The Dirección Federal de Seguridad (Federal Security Directorate, DFS) was a Mexican intelligence agency and secret police. It was created in 1947 under Mexican president Miguel Alemán Valdés with the assistance of U.S. intelligence agencies (namely the CIA) as part of the Truman Doctrine of Soviet Containment,[1] with the duty of preserving the internal stability of Mexico against all forms of subversion and terrorist threats.[2] It was merged into the Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (CISEN) in 1985.
| Dirección Federal de Seguridad | |
 Flag and logo of the DFS | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1947 |
| Dissolved | 1985 |
| Superseding agency |
|
| Parent department | Secretariat of the Interior |
During the period from 1968 to the late 1970s (a period called the Mexican Dirty War), the DFS was accused of illegal detentions, torture, assassinations and forced disappearances.[3][4] At least 347 complaints were received by the United Nations related to Mexican state crimes from 1960 to 1980.[5]
The agency was highly successful in thwarting and deterring any attempt by anti-government or pro-Soviet organizations to destabilize the country. However, it was a notoriously controversial government entity, and it was disbanded under the presidency of Miguel de la Madrid by the hand of his secretary of the interior Manuel Bartlett Díaz in 1985. Multiple agents were suspected (and later confirmed) of having links with criminal organizations, which included top members like Miguel Nazar Haro and Arturo "El Negro" Durazo Moreno. Other infamous former agents includes Rafael Aguilar Guajardo founding member of the Juárez Cartel and Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, who became one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, which in 2021 was named as the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world.
Some such criminal exploits included a million dollar US-Mexico car theft ring,[6] collaborating in drug trafficking with the Guadalajara Cartel (including the protection of the infamous "Colonia Bufalo" marijuana crops),[7] training the Nicaraguan contras in drug trafficker owned ranches,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] the murder of journalist Manuel Buendia, for investigating ties between the DFS, the CIA and drug traffickers,[15] and for having some degree of participation in, and providing cover to, the kidnapping and subsequent death of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar.[16][17]
Heads of the DFS
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- (1947–1952) Gen. Marcelino Inurreta
- (1952–1958) Col. Leandro Castillo-Venegas
- (1958–1959) LLB. Gilberto Suárez-Torres .[18][19][20]
- (1959–1964) Col. Manuel Rangel-Escamilla
- (1965–1970) Cap. Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios
- (1970–1977) Cap. Luis de la Barreda[21]
- (1977–1978) Mr. Javier García Paniagua
- (1978–1982) Lt.Col. Miguel Nazar Haro
- (1982–1985)
José Antonio Zorrilla Pérez
- (1985) Cap. Pablo González-Ruelas[22]
Notorious members
edit- Rafael Aguilar Guajardo
- Arturo Durazo Moreno (Alias "El Negro Durazo")
- Juan José Esparragoza Moreno (Alias "El Azul")
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ https://www.afio.com/publications/MEDINA%20Mexican%20Intelligence%202015%20Sep%2001%20FINAL.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Dirección Federal de Seguridad (Mexico) Security Reports, Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin, Dirección Federal de Seguridad (Mexico) Security Reports, 1970–1977
- ^ "Tienda de Entretenimiento". www.terra.com.mx. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
- ^ "La Historia de dos desaparecidas" (PDF).[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Cientos de desaparecidos en México. CNN".
- ^ "U.S. Indicted New Mexican Police Chief In Car-theft Ring". 27 December 1988.
- ^ "Caro, el Hombre Que Compró al Estado". 2 September 2013.
- ^ "El padrino del narcotráfico mexicano, ahora libre, adquirió su poder durante la época del PRI". 20 August 2013.
- ^ Watt, Peter; Zepeda, Roberto (14 June 2012). Drug War Mexico: Politics, Neoliberalism and Violence in the New Narcoeconomy. Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 9781848138896 – via Google Books.
- ^ Bartley, Russell H.; Bartley, Sylvia Erickson (30 November 2015). Eclipse of the Assassins: The CIA, Imperial Politics, and the Slaying of Mexican Journalist Manuel Buendía. University of Wisconsin Pres. p. 328 – via Google Books.
- ^ ""La DFS, al servicio de la CIA; Bartlett y García Ramírez lo sabían": Carrillo Olea en 'Proceso' – Aristegui Noticias". aristeguinoticias.com.
- ^ "Narco News: El agente de la DEA asesinado, Kiki Camarena, cayó en una operación de la CIA que salió mal, según fuentes de seguridad". www.narconews.com.
- ^ "La Federal de Seguridad y la CIA colaboraban con Caro Quintero – Proceso". 26 October 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ "Una historia nunca contada".
- ^ "¿Quién fue Manuel Buendía? – Animal Político". www.animalpolitico.com. 11 September 2013. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ "Revelan en EU que CIA grabó tortura a Enrique Camarena". 12 October 2013.
- ^ "A Camarena lo ejecutó la CIA, no Caro Quintero – Proceso". 12 October 2013. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ Camp, Roderic Ai (14 December 1992). Generals in the Palacio: The Military in Modern Mexico. Oxford University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-19-507300-3 – via Internet Archive.
Gilberto Suárez.
- ^ Navarro, Aaron W. (1 January 2010). Political Intelligence and the Creation of Modern Mexico, 1938–1954. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0271037066 – via Google Books.
- ^ Quezada, Sergio Aguayo (11 March 2014). La Charola: Una historia de los servicios de inteligencia en México. Editorial Ink. ISBN 9786079351328 – via Google Books.
- ^ Jornada, La. "Murió Luis de la Barreda, ex titular de la disuelta Dirección Federal de Seguridad – La Jornada". www.jornada.unam.mx.
- ^ Aguayo Quezada, Sergio (2001). La Charola. Grijalbo. p. 413. ISBN 970-05-1389-0.