The first 20 of 73 Huey helicopters to be sent to Mexico are currently at the military base in San Angelo, Texas, and are expected to be sent to Mexico in cargo planes by Thanksgiving. (La Jornada, October 26, 1996)
In 1997 the US will grant to Mexico up to $37 million in helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft, and it is requesting $10 million for night vision and command and control equipment for Mexico. It includes 4 reconnaissance-transportation C-26 planes and repairs and equipment for land support worth $12 million. They are small used 19-seat planes, manufactured by Fairchild Industries. (La Jornada, September 20, 1996)
The modern armament displayed by the special federal troops at the parade on September 16 (1996) is already available at the points of deployment of the government commandos in the Jungle, the North and the Highlands of Chiapas.
The spy planes, originated from the United States and called "condor", equipped with infrared sensors and silent flight, have been utilized in the Zapatista zones since May 1994, and right now are being used to detect the command posts of the EZLN in the mountains. (CCRI-CG of the EZLN communiqué, dated Sept. 17, 1996 and published in La Jornada Sept. 19, 1996)
Current end-use monitoring of U.S. -provided helicopters in Mexico does not appear to be effective. In its June 1996 report, "Drug Control: Counternarcotics Efforts in Mexico," the Government Accounting Office (GAO) wrote that "the (U.S.) embassy relies heavily on biweekly reports submitted by the Mexican government that typically consist of a map of specific operational records, U.S. personnel have little way of knowing if the helicopters are being properly used for counternarcotics purposes or are being misused. Embassy officials told us that helicopter operational records have been requested and received on only one occasion in the past 8 months-.", Furthermore, the Mexican government has previously misused U.S.-provided helicopters. The same GAO report is clear that "In the past,the Mexican government has misused some U.S. -provided counternarcotics helicopters. For example, during the 1994 uprising in the Mexican state of Chiapas, several U.S. -provided helicopters were used to transport Mexican military personnel to the conflict, which was a violation of the transfer agreement." (Excerpt from letter to Secretary of State Warren Christopher, dated September 20, 1996 and signed by 15 members of the US House of Representatives.)
500 bullet-proof transporters were acquired this past year by the Mexican military. From 1989 to the present day, Mexico has both 7,148 bullet-proof Hummer personnel transport vehicles (from the US). In 1991 710 Hummers were bought, and the US Army donated 609 vehicles to Mexico. (La Jornada, May 17, 1996)
According to a US General Accounting Office report, Mexicoís efforts against drug-trafficking are stagnated by the persistent corruption in key institutions and economic and political problems. The document also criticized Mexico for failing to maintain and poorly equipping the F-5 planes and helicopters provided by the United States, and it noted that the country lacked the capacity to monitor how the helicopters were being used. (La Jornada, June 13, 1996)
The first 20 of a total of 73 UH-1H helicopters were sent to new rapid response units of the Mexican Armed Forces. Since 1989, the United States has given 33 UH-1H helicopters (21 in 1990 and 1992; 12 more in 1995) to Mexicoís Attorney General. Of these, 5 are out of commission, 19 are operational, and nine are being repaired. The Attorney General also bought 18 Bell 206 helicopters, which were transferred to the Air Force. According to the Final Use Report of 1994, the Mexican Attorney General has an aerial fleet of equipment donated or loaned by the US which includes 21 Bell 206B-111 helicopters, 7 Bell 212 helicopters, 1 UH-LN Bell helicopter, 18 Bell UH-1H helicopters, and 13 Cessna 206/210 planes. 24 mechanics from Mexico will be trained in the United States to work on the new fleet of UH-1H helicopters.
Between 1989 and 1994 the modernization of the Mexican Armed Forces has included the purchase of 48 helicopters by the Mexican Air Force, including 18 Bell 212 and 2 Bell 206L3, six Blackhawk transports, 222 MD-530 observation, and 23 small planes. The Mexican government also for the first time is allowing US public security agencies to fly over Mexican territory. (La Jornada, June 15, 1996)
Mexico received $7 million in 1993 and $2 million in 1995 from the United States. These figures do not include military equipment that was loaned or given to Mexico such as jeeps and helicopters (La Jornada, June 10,1996)
73 UH-IH Huey helicopters are being donated to the Mexican Air Force. The first 20 helicopters will be sent soon, and the Pentagon also agreed to offer parts for two years and pilot training as well as maintenance equipment for 18 months. This is in addition to the 30 Huey helicopters being given to the Mexican Attorney Generalís office. The US State Department confirmed that the helicopters would not be used exclusively in anti-drug operations. According to the State Department, every two months Mexico will have to present a report on the helicopters and specify their location in Mexico. Also a so-called "aviation advisor" of the U.S. embassy in Mexico will travel now and then around the country to inspect the equipment. But these visits will never be conducted without prior notice. (La Jornada, May 17, 1996)
25 military vehicles from the US crossed the border at Ciudad Juarez the previous day. (December 6, 1995, Diario de Juarez)
Secretary of Defense William Perry maintained that his country will collaborate in the improvement of our defense capacity in air and maritime space in the modernization of military hardware and in the improvement of personnel for combating the drug trade. He insisted that the bilateral relationship, aided before on two bases -the political and commercial-now will also be founded on one more, that is, on the question of security. After pointing out commercial and economic collaboration -such as the NAFTA and the recent aid Mexico received due to the economic crisis of last December- the chief of the US Armed Force maintained, ëíwhen it comes to stability and security, our destinies are also indissoluble linked. " Members of the United States retinue asserted that Mexico bought a radar worth seven million dollars as well as 12 Huey-H1 helicopters to fight drug trafficking. (La Jornada, October 24, 1995)
The US wants to rent 12 Huey helicopters to Mexico (New York Times, September 24, 1995)
The government of President Ernesto Zedillo has requested the purchase of airplanes, armament, radar and communication systems worth a total of $27 million to reinforce the capacities of the Armed Forces and Federal Attorney General. see attached list (El Financiero, August 29, 1995)
In 1991, the United States Army donated a total of 609 vehicles and diverse war material to the [Mexican] Armed Forces (La Jornada, July 1995)
Mexicoís U.S. supplied military helicopter fleet could be nearly doubled, to almost 200, by Pentagon transfers, including several dozen state of the art Blackhawk choppers. (New York Times May 23, 1995)
Mexican army has been spending "considerable amounts" on Navstar GPS guidance systems, a critical weapon in satellite warfare (Janeís 1995 Intelligence Review From 1988 to 1992 the US exported over $214 million in arms to the PRI government, an amount 16 times higher than France, the second-place supplier (El Proceso, December 12, 1994)
In 1994 Clinton authorized a new arms export package for Mexico, including over $64 million of sophisticated electronic equipment and satellite guided UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters U.S. Huey and Bell 212 helicopters along with C-130 Hercules troop transport planes were used against the Zapatistas in 1994
In 1993 the US military assistance to Mexico was more than $250 million (National Catholic Reporter, February 1994)
Wire tapping (of Mexican phone lines) and other intelligence methods are being expanded to reinforce control of the southwest region of the US border (La Jornada, May 17, 1996)
In Nogales, Arizona, the INS practiced responding to an "immigrant invasion from Mexico". They practiced erecting cyclone-fence corrals, herding immigrants through them for emergency processing and loading them onto bus convoys for travel to mass detention centers. It is the third set of exercises this year---previously conducted in Orlando and McAllen, Texas. Immigrants eventually could be held in prisons, military bases or tent cities. (New York Times, December 8, 1995)
Donald E. Schulz, an associate professor of National Security with the US Armyís War College stated that "a hostile government could put the US investments in danger [in Mexico], jeopardize access to oil, produce a flood of political refugees and economic migrants to the north. And under such circumstances, the United States would feel obligated to militarize its southern border." (December 6, 1995 La Jornada)
A US contingency plan "to contain a possible wave of immigrants... provides military logistical support to the Border Patrol, training exercises [by the INS and the Border Patrol], detention of immigrants in inactive military bases and construction of concrete barricades on the border with Mexico. A pilot project to detain 380 immigrants for up to 18 months is planned for Miramar Naval Station near San Diego. Training exercises covering actions in the countryside, the rapid processing of undocumented persons and their transportation to detention centers were to be carried out in Nogales, Arizona and McAllen, Texas during November. (November 12, 1995 El Financiero)
To force Mexico to emphasize fighting drugs and to have its army have the principal role in interdiction efforts complicates what it can do with regard to other national security issues, such as fighting guerrilla groups. Furthermore, based on their experience in the 1980s, drug-related corruption is too attractive for the poorly paid officers and troops, according to Roderick Ai Camp, a professor at Tulane University and a former visiting professor at the College of Mexico. (La Jornada, October 18, 1996)
The Pentagon has requested funds for training Mexican officers under the International Training Program and Military Education (IMET). The International Drugs Office of the State Department also notified Congress this month that it is duplicating the amount of funds for training and assistance to the Mexican Attorney General. The US already has devoted $500,000 to the PGR, and now proposes to invest $750,000 more. (La Jornada, September 20, 1996)
US Ambassador James Jones said that the United States is willing to provide intelligence and training to assist Mexico in its fight against a newly emerged rebel movement (AP, Sept. 9, 1996)
A senior US defense official briefly mentions that there are "routine exchanges of officers attending [US] military schools and [Mexican] military schools", and that "[US] senior officers visit Mexico as part of the US Capstone program. The Mexican military routinely visit the USí National Defense University". (October 20, 1995 press briefing)
There are US advisors "preparing" counterinsurgency commandos or paramilitary groups among indigenous organizations not affiliated with the Zapatistas in order that they, at the appropriate time, struggle against the Zapatista Army of National Liberation...The [Mexican] government has replaced the "armed wing" with the federal Attorney General and state public security bodies, led by "old masters" such as General Arturo Acosta Chaparro [who directed the armyís massacre of students on October 2, 1969, and who was trained in the USí School of the Americas]... (La Jornada, November 7, 1995, article regarding Radio Universidadís interview with Sub. Marcos)
The US State Department proposes to grant to Mexico $250,000 more in computer equipment, training and software for the development of a databank (La Jornada, September 20, 1996)
A declassified Pentagon paper, written in 1994, stated that it was conceivable that a deployment of US troops to Mexico would be received favorably if the Mexican government were to confront the threat of being overthrown as a result of widespread economic and social chaos. In such a scenario, the intelligence and security services would probably cooperate with the US intelligence forces with the identification of threats to Mexicoís internal stability". ( La Jornada, August 31, 1996)
The FBI currently has 198 agents assigned to the southwest border and requested funds to place 54 more agents and their support personnel on the border (La Jornada, May 17, 1996)
Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Propp is named as the head of a Secret or Covert Operations team operating since June 1994 in Chiapas. He was detected in San Cristobal de las Casas since that time and was in Guadalupe Tepeyac with the Mexican military unit that took that village on February 10, 1995. He also was seen in San Quintin...It is confirmed that the United States government interfered in communications amongst the EZLN delegation to the dialogues in San Andres and passing the information to the governmentís delegation. Another report is that the United States Army is acting as an intermediary in bringing Argentinean mercenaries to Chiapas; people have reported them with the paramilitary groups, the "white guards". (La Brecha de Uruguay, interview with Sub. Marcos, Oct. 28, 1995)
Major John Kevin Kord, and Lieutenant Colonel Alan Hasson Sanchez are US military men identified as being in Chiapas during the Mexican military offensive in February. (El Norte Chiapas, February 12, 1995)
"American intelligence services" actively assisted in determining the (alleged) identity of Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos (New York Times, February 10, 1995)
[FBI] staff in Mexico participate in training Mexicans, in the development of common strategies against organized crimes and in the prosecution of crimes involving American citizens, stated Paul Bresson, spokesperson for the FBI. The head of the FBI team in Mexico is Stanley Pimental, and he has a handful of special agents working under him including James Wells, Gilberto Contreras and Ornelo Flores. Mexico is one of 21 countries in which the FBI operates and has one of the largest staff -approximately 10 people. (El Financiero, November 6, 1994)
The CIA fields a substantial, expanding network of agents and covert operatives in southeastern Chiapas (ex-CIA officers John Stockwell and Ralph McGehee)