Mexico: A fascist group called TECOS

(Educational and Cultural Work towards

Order and Synthesis); membership and
recruitment methods; its relationship to
FEMACO (Mexican Federation of AntiCommunist Students) and to the FEJ
(Jalisco Students Federation); the latter's
affiliation to the newspaper Ocho
Columnas [Ochocolumnas]; ill-treatment of
TECOS members who have refused to
resort to violence against opposition; and
status of the organization (1970-1999)
Publisher

Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Author

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada

Publication Date

1 July 1999

Citation / Document Symbol

MEX32297.E

Cite as

Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Mexico: A fascist group

Synthesis); membership and recruitment methods; its relationship to FEMACO
(Jalisco Students Federation); the latter's affiliation to the newspaper Ocho C
refused to resort to violence against opposition; and status of the organization
http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aaab20.html [accessed 22 September 2016

Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it
of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the

Various sources suggest that Tecos is a short version of Tecolotes, plural of a Mexican term
meaning "owl;" however, Mexican slang also uses the long term to refer to uniformed policemen
(Jimnez May 1977). No expanded meaning or use of Tecos as an acronym could be found
among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

The only report found within the time constraints of this Response that provides an historic
reference and links an "extreme right" organization called "Tecos" to a Mexican Federation of
Anti-Communist Students (FEMACO) is published by an "alternative media" Internet Website and
reproduced in various other "alternative" Websites such as Arm The Spirit, AlterNet and the Antifa
Info Bulletin (Burghardt 19 June 1999). The document is an historic account of an alleged
extensive network of connections between United States and foreign fascists, nazis and neonazis, ultra-conservatives, the CIA and other organizations and groups. No corroboration of this
account could be found among other sources consulted by the Research Directorate. The report,
which can be found at , provides the following statements on Tecos and FEMACO:
An off-shoot of Ordine Nuovo was the terrorist group, the Armed Revolutionary Nuclei (ARN),
responsible for the 1980 bombing of the Bologna train station which killed 85 people. The
notorious neo-fascist killer, Stefano delle Chiaie, the ARN architect of the Bologna massacre,
attended the pivotal 1980 conference of the WACL-affiliated, Latin American Anti-Communist
Confederation (CAL), held in Buenos Aires at the height of the "dirty war" against the Argentine
left.
CAL was the organizational expression of a little-known group of Mexican neo-Nazis, the Tecos or
"owls," centered at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. Founded by Third Reich
collaborator Carlos Cuesta Gallardo, the Tecos have created several anti-communist front groups
which include the Mexican Anti-Communist Federation (FEMACO) and the Inter-American
Confederation of Continental Defense (IACCD). These "men of action" were drawn from the ranks
of the Mexican secret police, military officers, wealthy landowners and industrialists.
Tecos leader, Raimundo Guerrero, was recruited into the organization by Gallardo. According to
Anderson and Anderson, the Tecos have close links with the remnants of the Romanian Iron
Guard fascists of Horia Sima in Spain. The group publishes the anti-Semitic magazine, Replica.
Serving as a liaison among right-wing death squads throughout Latin America, the Tecos joined
WACL in 1972. But the Tecos are more than a collection of aging Nazis; investigative journalist
Manuel Buendia, was assassinated in Mexico City after publishing a three-part series exposing
"Los Tecos" in 1984. (ibid.)
A La Jornada article of 16 May 1999 reports that an influential businessman who supports the
future presidential candidacy of PRI figure Francisco Labastida was, in his youth, a militant of the
University Anticommunist Front (Frente Universitario Anticomunista), reportedly a far-right group
that operated in the state of Puebla in the 1960s and 1970s, and was linked to the Catholic Opus
Dei, University Movement of Renewal Guidance (Movimiento Universitario de Renovadora
Orientacin, MURO) and the Tecos of the Universidad Autnoma de Guadalajara (Autonomous
University of Guadalajara, UAG) (La Jornada 16 May 1999).
Various articles in La Jornada refer to los tecos as a far-right or "ultraconservative" movement
(ultraderecha) centred at the UAG. The UAG-based newspaper Ochocolumnas is described as
being the mouthpiece or representative of the interests of the tecos, in turn described as
the ultraderecha of Guadalajara (La Jornada 26 Jan. 1999).
References were also found to Tecos as the name of the soccer team of the UAG. Both the UAG
and the Tecos soccer team are reportedly owned by businessman Juan Jos Leao Alvarez del
Castillo (La Jornada 3 Aug. 1998). The Website of the UAG has links to the Tecos soccer team
and to the newspaper Ochocolumnas (see ).

The "intensity" of the far-right of the UAG tecos was reportedly described in various newspaper
columns by Manuel Buenda (La Jornada 23 Oct. 1997), an investigative journalist murdered in
1984. The Burghardt report cited above states that Manuel Buenda "was assassinated in Mexico
City after publishing a three-part series exposing 'Los Tecos' in 1984." Biographical overviews of
the journalist published by the Mexican free-press advocate Fundacin Buenda do not attribute
responsibility for his assassination, but state that Buenda exposed "invisible powers" that linked
the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with Mexican secret far-right societies, and
suggest that the authorities did not properly investigate his murder (Monsivais 25 Jan. 1999;
Martinez de la Vega 25 Jan. 1999). One of the commentaries describes los tecos as a standardbearer for "groups of a primitive religious fanatism mixed with fascist obsessions" (ibid.).
Recent journalistic references to los tecos mention it as the political undercurrent of the UAG, and
one of many far-right movements that have joined the Partido Accion Nacional (PAN). One such
article refers to an "abysmal difference" between the far-right UAG and its tecos, and the
Universidad de Guadalajara (University of Guadalajara, UdeG or UDG) (ibid. 10 Aug. 1998), while
another refers to los tecos of the UAG as "obsoletely anti-communist" and overtly supportive of a
future presidential candidacy of PAN leader Vicente Fox (La Jornada 2 Oct. 1998).
A report on the internal political divisions within the PAN states that a number of "right and farright" groups, including the Tecos of the UAG, began joining the party in the mid-1970s; their
presence became increasingly important within PAN, creating a conflict between the PAN "old
guard" and the neopanistas3/4a generation of younger, richer and allegedly less civic-minded
businessmen with greater political ambitions (La Jornada 4 Mar. 1996).
In March 1996 a neopanista figure discussed the internal conflicts of the party in an interview
with La Jornada, mentioning that a group whose members joined the PAN, the Desarrollo
Humano Integral A.C. (DHIAC), had been unfairly identified with the group MURO (25 Mar. 1996).
The politician stated that in the 1970s the heads of neighbours' committees (comits de vecinos)
who supported the governor of Jalisco had been members of the Tecos, adding that
the Tecos had criticized DHIAC as being a political arm of MURO (ibid.). The PAN figure
explained the conflict between Tecos and Muros (MURO militants), who had had previous affinity,
as a consequence of the Second Vatican Council: until then, the common denominator
of Tecos and Muros had been the "concept of Catholic Action" which guided parishes into civic
and political involvement, but the Second Vatican Council indicated that parishes could only be
involved in spiritual matters, while other activities should be left to lay people (ibid.). The PAN
figure states that the Tecos, with monsignor Joaqun Sainz Arriaga as their spiritual guide,
decided to ignore this dictum of the Concilium, while MURO abided by it (ibid.).
Although recent references to the Jalisco Students Federation (Federacin de Estudiantes de
Jalisco, FEJ) involvement in student and cultural activities at the UAG were found (see, for
example, UAG news bulletin, May 1999, at ), no references to links between FEJ, FEMACO and
the Tecos political movement could be found among the sources consulted by the Research
Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available
to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to
be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see
below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this information request.

References
Burghardt, Tom. n.d. San Francisco, Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights (BACORR).
"A Small Circle of Friends: Larry Pratt, the Council for Inter-American Security and International
Fascist Networks." [Accessed 16 July 1999]
Fundacin Manuel Buenda, Mexico City. 25 January 1999. Francisco Martinez de la Vega. "Un
hombre, una huella, un ejemplo." [Accessed 19 July 1999]
_____. 25 January 1999. Carlos Monsivais. "Manuel Buenda: La lucha contra los poderes
invisibles." [Accessed 19 July 1999]
La Jornada [Mexico City]. 16 May 1999. Roberto Gonzalez Amador. "En los 70, Garca Surez
form parte de un movimiento 'desestabilizador'." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
_____. 26 January 1999. Julio Hernandez Lopez. "Astillero." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
_____. 2 October 1998. Julio Hernandez Lopez. "Astillero." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
_____. 10 August 1998. Julio Hernandez Lopez. "Astillero." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
_____. 3 August 1998. "Cuatro de los citados, entre los ms ricos del mundo,
segn Forbes." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
_____. 23 October 1997. Julio Hernandez Lopez. "Astillero." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
_____. 25 March 1996. Mireya Cullar. "Cuando llegaron los ultras, el PAN empez a ganar:
diputado Espino." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
_____. 4 March 1996. Mireya Cuellar and Nestor Martinez. "Empresarios y ultras, al asalto del
poder: vieja guardia del PAN." [Accessed 20 July 1999]
Additional Sources Consulted
El Universal [Mexico City]. Internet Search Engine. 1997-99.
Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico & NAFTA Report [London]. 1994-99.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1989-99.
Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. 1994-99.
Electronic sources: Internet, IRB Databases, Global NewsBank, Refworld, WNC.
Note: This list is not exhaustive. Country and subject-specific books available in the Resource
Centre are not included.
Copyright notice: This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder and
producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original version of this document
may be found on the offical website of the IRB at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier
than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.