Gustavo Castillo Garcia
The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, September 15, 2024, p. 6
The National Intelligence Center (CNI) delivered to the General Archive of the Nation (AGN) 300,986 documents from the extinct Federal Security Directorate (DFS), which contain photographs, documents, video tapes, microfiches, microfilms and 215 thousand cards with data from guerrilla groups, political, social, union and activist actors “related to the dirty war; that is, all information relating to possible human rights violations and political persecution linked to political and social movements, as well as acts of corruption,” which occurred between 1965 and 1990, the AGN reported.
This is the second time that the main civil intelligence agency of the Mexican government has released, for public consultation, thousands of files related to the dirty warThe first occasion occurred in 2001 during the government of PAN member Vicente Fox Quesada, and they served for the extinct Special Prosecutor’s Office for Social and Political Movements of the Past (Femospp) to integrate part of that documentation to hundreds of previous investigations.
In particular, the information was used to bring criminal charges in June 2006 against former President Luis Echeverría Álvarez (1970-1976) for genocide, for the massacre of October 2, 1968, and the massacre of June 10, 1971. The former president spent three years under house arrest and was eventually exonerated of the charges.
In 2001, a decree was issued ordering the agencies to hand over to the AGN the information that was in the hands of the Center for Investigation and National Security (Cisen), the body that succeeded the DFS, and finally on February 19, 2002, 4,223 boxes of files from the DFS and the General Directorate of Political and Social Investigations (DGIPS) were handed over.
These archives contained approximately 58,302 files with information from the period from 1947 to 1985.
AMLO issues agreement
On March 1, 2019, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued an agreement in which he instructed the AGN to “receive, organize, guard, preserve and provide unrestricted consultation of the historical documents that are transferred to it because they are related to the dirty war”.
On April 18, 2023, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) issued recommendation 98VG/2023 on cases of serious violations of human rights, freedom, legal security, personal integrity, dignified treatment, due to acts of illegal detention, illegal retention and acts of torture, forced disappearance and extrajudicial execution, as well as the right to the truth and the best interests of children, during the period of political violence by the State between 1965 and 1990.
In this regard, in compliance with the presidential agreement and recommendation 98VG/23, during the period from October 6, 2023 to June 21, 2024, the AGN received through the Directorate of Legal and Archival Affairs (DAJA) from the CNI, a total of 495 boxes containing information that could be related to serious human rights violations.
the AGN reported.
The collection
The CNI delivered 74,434 envelopes, containing 563,272 photographs and negatives with 3,965 file documents
that the AGN identified as being glossed in 58 documents, which include a total of 11,687 pages.
Regarding the 3,037 microfiches, it was identified that they are composed of a total of 10,049 sheets, and regarding the 411 documents, the AGN identified that they contain 4,448 sheets and cards.
In total, the National Archives indicated, 300,986 documents with 589,456 items were delivered by the CNI
.
The DAJA is managing the incorporation of the documentation referred to in the historical collection of the AGN, so at this time they are only available to be consulted by the authorities of prosecution and administration of justice.
the institution said.
But he explained that Once their state of conservation has been verified and their control and protection is guaranteed, anyone will be able to consult them in full.
this will be done when they are generated the definitive archival control and consultation instruments that will allow their consultation
.
Initial list
The National Archives already has an initial list outlining the content of each of the boxes delivered by the CNI.
As regards documentary material, there are files such as the one identified with guide 009-005-033 L1, which covers the period from July 1, 1979 to February 29, 1980 and is related to the Order of operations to follow up on marches and rallies called by unions, student, worker, peasant and popular organizations on various topics
.
Documents were handed over relating to former President José López Portillo (1976-1982); Alfonso Martínez Domínguez, who was head of the Federal District Department (from December 1, 1970 to June 15, 1971); Carlos Jongitud Barrios, leader of the National Union of Education Workers, from 1989 to February 2013.
Also included are files containing information on Genaro Vázquez Rojas, founder of the Guerrero Civic Association in 1959, which became one of the opposition groups to the government.
An archive of photographs, with images of Cuban exiles, Uruguayan asylum seekers, and speakers at events such as the founding of the Workers’ Union of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The microfiches contain information divided by productive activities, branches of production, social organizations, political parties, indigenous groups, conflicts, religious institutions, foreign policy and domestic policy, among other topics.
