Merida Initiative « Feral Jundi

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Jobs: Program Manager-Merida, Mexico

Filed under: Jobs,Logistics,Management Positions,Mexico — Tags: contracting, Jobs, Merida Initiative, Mexico, Olgoonik, Program Manager — Matt @ 11:43 PM

I apologize if this is not an armed security type job like I normally post, but because this is for Mexico, I figured I would promote it here on the blog. The Merida Initiative is one of those deals where contractors can totally get in there and make a difference if given the task. There is a war in Mexico against these cartels, and they need all the help we can give them.

This is also a great job to post to coincide with this recent article about the ramped up efforts in Mexico. In the article they discuss how contractors are a way to get US resources into Mexico, and bypass Mexican law that prohibits US military help. This actually reminds me of something that MPRI would be doing. Here is the quote:

Officials are also looking into embedding a team of US contractors inside a specially vetted Mexican counternarcotics police unit. Officials on both sides of the border said the new efforts have been designed to get around Mexican laws that prohibit foreign military and police from operating on its soil, and to prevent advanced US surveillance technology from falling under the control of Mexican security agencies with long histories of corruption.

Now of course this gig does not at all sound like they will be ’embedded’ with counternarcotics officers. But if I find more jobs related to Merida, I will post them as I find them. I am not the POC or recruiter for this particular job, and please follow the link below if you would like to apply. Good luck. –Matt

Program Manager – Merida
Subsidiary: Olgoonik Technical Services, LLC
Location: Mexico
Organization: OTS
Requisition Number: 2010796
City: Mexico City
# of openings: 1
Description Overview:
The Program Manager will reside in Mexico City, Mexico, and shall have direct responsibility for successful management of all phases of the assigned program. This position is required to implement and maintain project cost accounting and record keeping processes. The Program Manager prepares written and oral reports for the Director of Operations as requested and oversees the program related field operations of the company. In addition, the Program Manager works closely with other departments such as Human Resources and Accounting to provide timely project related information.

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mexico: Cartels Team Up To Destroy Los Zetas

Filed under: Law Enforcement,Mexico — Tags: cartels, drugs, gulf cartel, IED's, los zetas, Merida Initiative, Mexico, nuevo laredo — Matt @ 2:31 AM

You know, on the flip side I guess this should be good news that the cartels are killing each other. But the violence impacts the locals, and the police and army get in the way and they get killed too. And eventually someone takes the top position of the heap, and imposes their will on the population. It will be interesting to see what cartel wins in this exchange, and it would be a fascinating study to find out what was the strategy involved. This kind of cartel/gang warfare, is really free market warfare. It is also hybrid warfare, because these guys are using military hardware and tactics–complete with grenade launchers, assault rifles, and IED’s.

The cartels contract their hit men or contract killer companies, and they all fight each other with no limitations on strategy or tactics. That is interesting, because in that kind of environment, innovation can really flourish. If chopping someone’s head off makes strategic sense, they do it. Putting a price on the head of their enemies, and turning it into a sustainable industry makes sense to them. So this kind of cartel/private warfare is interesting to watch.

The question I have is when the dust clears, will we see a cartel that rises to the top that has the kind of capability that not only can destroy their competitors, but can take on the government and all of it’s forces? For the sake of Mexico and the world, I hope not. –Matt

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Mexico: Cartels team up to destroy hit men gang

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

Apr 12, 2010

MEXICO CITY — Two Mexican drug cartels have joined forces to destroy a feared gang of hit men along the border with Texas, a shift in allegiances that is fueling drug-war violence, federal police said Monday.

Intelligence reports indicate the Gulf and La Familia cartels — formerly bitter rivals — have formed an alliance to fight the Zetas gang in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, said Ramon Pequeno, the head of the anti-narcotics division of Mexico’s federal police.

It was the first official confirmation of the alliance, which has been rumored since banners appeared throughout the region announcing the pact and warning residents not to leave their homes, saying the conflict would get worse. E-mails were also sent with the same message.

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Sunday, April 11, 2010

Mexico: U.S. Consulate Attacked, No Injuries

Filed under: Mexico — Tags: attack, consulates, drug war, Law Enforcement, Merida Initiative, Mexico, security contracting — Matt @ 1:32 AM

If anything, this was just to send a message. If these guys really wanted to do some damage, they could have. That is the next level of violence with the drug cartels in my opinion, and wait until we start seeing the whole IED game initiated. With that said, I certainly hope we are doing the things necessary to protect Americans working at the consulates. –Matt

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U.S. Mexican Consulate Attacked

April 11, 2010

By NICHOLAS CASEY

Unknown attackers threw explosives into the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, breaking windows and producing a disturbing blast but injuring no one, the consulate said Saturday night.

The attack happened around 11 p.m. on Friday evening and involved a “device which landed in a patio and exploded,” said Brian Quigley, the consular spokesman. “No employees were injured and nobody was there,” he said. But he called the incident “a serious matter.”

The incident marks the second attack against consular employees in Mexico in as many months.

On March 13, three people associated with the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez were killed when hit men chased their vehicles through the city’s streets and gunned them down. The trio included a woman who was a consular employee, her husband and a third man in a separate car whose wife was a consulate employee.

Mr. Quigley said there was no indication that there was any connection between the March killings and the weekend attack.

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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Mexico: Gates And Mullen Heading To Mexico, Consular Posts Get 15% Danger Pay

Filed under: Law Enforcement,Mexico — Tags: drug war, Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Law Enforcement, Merida Initiative, Mexico, Mullen, security contracting — Matt @ 12:54 AM

This is an interesting development, because now we are sending in the big guns to talk shop with Mexico about what else can be done. And when I hear things like, ‘evolve the Merida Inititative’, I tend to take notice. Does that mean we are going to add more teeth to it, or fast track the current orders, or what? Will this look more and more like the Plan Colombia that everyone keeps talking about, as the violence increases on the border? Well, when you send the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and our Defense Secretary to Mexico, that might be an indication of things to come.

I also noticed over at Diplopundit, that all the consulates in Mexico are getting a 15% Danger Pay increase. So yet again, is this a sign of things to come? Because this is definitely a recognition of the fact that things really are dangerous for our diplomats in Mexico. Duh.

Finally, I wanted to talk about this Merida Initiative. I have heard next to nothing about this in the idle industry chit chat out there. And believe me, I check the forums and do my searches–yet nothing. If any of the readership has anything relevant, please feel free to add whatever in the comments. Like with China, I would like to make Feral Jundi the goto resource for anything related to contracting in Mexico. As this thing ‘evolves’, I think we will see more interesting opportunities pop up–much like what happened with Plan Colombia. –Matt

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Gates, Mullen Head U.S. Crime-Fighting Delegation to Mexico

Camille Tuutti

Mar 22, 2010

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will travel to Mexico City this week as part of a U.S. delegation focused on helping the Mexican government fight drug-trafficking cartels and other security threats.

“It is in our interest that our friends have greater capabilities to protect their own security and to take care of transnational criminal activity such as the drug cartels,” Gates said. “It is in our interest, because we have [a] shared interest to enhance the capabilities of the Mexican armed forces.”

The Mexico visit will build on the last high-level consultative group session, when Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa discussed ways to evolve the Mérida Initiative in December 2008.

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