CHETUMAL, Quintana Roo. January 1 (Apro.) In recent years, around one thousand soldiers in the Mexican Army have received instruction from Guatemalan army officers. They have been trained by one of the most repressive military elite groups--recognized for its "efficiency" in the struggle against guerrilla groups--and have graduated as "kaibiles."
They are known by the name "Special Operations Patrols" (POE in Spanish), but in practice they are the "Mexican kaibiles."
One of their main training centers is located 50 kilometers from this city, in the town of Xmotoc, in the middle of a jungle region close to the border of Belize, according to reports gathered by this correspondent.
But in addition to these "kaibiles," in the Mexican Army there are other special groups that have emerged in recent years: the "Black Needles," trained by Brazilian military, also expert in combatting guerrillas; "Green Berets," trained by the United States Army; and the Airborne Group of Special Forces (in Spanish called "GAFE").
The latter group, divided in "Intervention" and "Impact" teams, also receives training at the Xmotoc camp.
In 1994, in Laguna Seca, Tijuana, in Baja California, the Secretary of National Defense opened a new kaibil training camp. It was precisely in this place where, in "survival practice," 14 soldiers died in the desert and the health of 17 others was damaged--victims of undernourishment.
Another special training camp is located in Campeche, where the road to the historic hacienda of Huayamon meets the road to the town of Chulul, about 40 kilometers from the state capital. This camp is for the training of GAFE troops.
Another one, also in Campeche, in the remote community of El Dzibalito on the Guatemalan border, is also dedicated to the training of GAFE and Kaibiles. Since 1994, this camp has been base for a military squadron, under the assumption that armed cells linked with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) also exist in that zone.
In Tapachula, Chiapas, there is another military base, in which members of the "Black Needles" are trained. Their training consists of a six-month course on comando tactics for guerrilla warfare, similar to that received by the kaibiles. Each course is limited to a maximum of 15 soldiers, all ranking officers, and once they have completed their training, they become trainers.
The "Green Berets" receive training in desert regions, high mountains, in the air and at sea. The United States "Green Berets" are responsible for their training.
Training for kaibiles consists of their "survival" in jungle and desert zones.
According to military reports, in the last five years a little more than a thousand soldiers have "graduated" as "Mexican kaibiles," and, along with those of GAFE, "Green Berets" and "Black Needles," are concentrated in the so-called conflictive states, like Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Hidalgo, and Puebla.
There are others who have been trained in comando tactics in urban guerrilla warfare, and in combatting organized crime. In the latter case, several have been commissioned to the anti-drug Judicial Police force, which is directly under the Attorney General (PGR).
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