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covert presence in the country and stated that more than 20 members of the group had been
arrested in recent months. 124 ETA s activities in Mexico generally consist of establishing and
managing legitimate business enterprises for purposes of fundraising and money laundering.
Islamic Terrorist Organizations
Statements made by high-ranking Mexican officials prior to and following the September
11, 2001 terrorist attacks indicate that one or more Islamic terrorist organizations has sought to
establish a presence in Mexico. In May 2001, former Mexican national security adviser and
current ambassador to the United Nations, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, stated, that Spanish and
Islamic terrorist groups are using Mexico as a refuge& In light of this situation, there are
continuing investigations aimed at dismantling these groups so that they may not cause problems
in the country. 125 Asked by reporters for specific information, Zinser replied, We have cases of
many terrorist organizations that are seeking to set up refuges in Mexico. There are Islamic
people. There are also people from ETA. 126 Aguilar noted that, despite the situation, there are
no indications that these terrorist groups may have established contact with Mexican
organizations. He also mentioned that the terrorist groups in question had been located in the
northern part of the country and were shifting operations toward the south but did not elaborate.
Prior to September 11, Zinser s remarks about Islamic people in Mexico sparked speculation
among observers that the Lebanese Shi ite terrorist organization Hizbollah may have established
cells in Mexico.127 A Hizbollah presence in northern Mexico was considered a possibility by
124
Mexican Official Says Spanish, Islamic Terrorist Groups Use Mexico as Refuge, BBC Monitoring /Notimex,
30 May 2001.
125
Mexican official says Spanish, Islamic Terrorist Groups Use Mexico as Refuge, BBC Monitoring /Notimex,
30 May 2001.
126
Mexican Official Says Spanish, Islamic Terrorist Groups Use Mexico as Refuge.
127
Mexico Arrests Members of Terrorist Groups, Special Warfare, 14, no. 2 (Spring 2001).
43
Library of Congress Federal Research Division Criminal and Terrorist Activity in Mexico
observers because of the sizable ethnic Lebanese and Palestinian communities in the northern
Mexican city of Monterrey.128
Following the September 11 attacks, the focus of speculation shifted toward a possible al
Qaeda presence in Mexico.129 Remarks made by Mexican public officials in the aftermath of the
attacks addressed the possibility that al Qaeda cells could be present in Mexico and could
potentially attempt to cross the U.S. southwest border to conduct additional attacks.
In October 2001, during a UN conference, the director of Mexico s Center for
Intelligence and National Security (Centro de Inteligencia y Seguridad Nacional Cisen),
Eduardo Medina Mora, remarked that the possibility of an al Qaeda attack against the United
States launched from Mexico could not be ruled out. 130 However, Medina Mora stated that
Cisen had no reason to believe that there was an al Qaeda presence in Mexico.
In January 2002, National Migration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migracion INM)
official Felipe Urbiola Ledezma made more alarming were statements. During remarks to the
press, Urbiola said, We have in Mexico people linked to terrorism and we are constantly
observing unusual immigration flows& [people connected to] ETA, Hizbollah and even some
with links to Usama Bin Laden. 131 He added that there are six or seven organizations, but
these are people who have links to them [terrorist groups] and are not themselves engaging in
terrorist activities 132 Urbiola s remarks were immediately disavowed by the INM, which issued
a press release stating that The National Migration Institute categorically denies statements
made by officials of this organization in which it is alleged that foreign terrorist organizations or
activities are being carried out in the national territory. 133
128
According to the Monterrey based daily, El Norte, there are about 400,000 Arabic speakers in Mexico; Jessica
Castañeda, Habla usted& arabe? [Do You Speak Arabic?], El Norte [Monterrey, Mexico], 6 September 2002, 1.
129
Graham H. Turbiville, Potential Terrorist Entry to U.S. Along SW Border, Special Warfare, 15, no. 1 (Winter
2002): 45.
130
Daniel Millán Valencia and Ernesto Nuñez, Alerta Cisen de ataques por frontera con Mexico [Cisen Raises
Alert Over Attacks Through Mexican Border], El Norte [Monterrery, Mexico], 25 October 2001, 4.
131
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