Does the United States government finance the Zetas?

At the risk of sounding like I’m indulging in “yellow journalism”,  this may well be correct.

Buried in today’s papers (the front page news in all the national papers was about the disco raid disaster) was an item on the charges being brought against the masterminds of the phoney “kidnapping” of Cuban illegals being sent to Tapachula for detention and deportation.

From Jornada (which had the fullest report):

The General’s Office (PRG, for its initials in Spanish) has credible evidence that the Fundacion Nacional Cuban-American (FNCA in Spanish, CANF in English), an antiCastro organization of Cuban  residents in Miami, has maintained ties for at least the last three years to the Gulf Cartel and the band of professional assassins known as the Zetas,  to protect their trafficking in migrants from the Island and Central America who hope to cross into the United States.

According to judicial sources close to theinvestigatory, Nairobi Claro and Quick Noriel confessed that they were member of the FNCA, and used money received from the migrants to bribe Mexican authorities, acquire counterfeit immigration documents and contract services from gangsters operating in the Gulf of Mexico region, to guarantee the passage of the Cubans to the United States.

…[both are now “protected witnesses” in Mexico]…

[U.S. intelligence sources, are in] agreement with information provided by the Cuban government to the National Security and Research Center (Cisen, the Mexican national intelligence agency) that since 2005 FNCA has not only supports gangs dealing in trafficking in undocumented islanders, but also with people tied to Mexican criminal organizations, including those involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.

Not evidence of CANF involvement, but suggesting that these operations do involve criminals in the United States was a small item in El Universal “Decomisan yates en los que trasladan a cubanos”, mentioning that the boats seized in Islas Mujeres from Cuban smugglers have been traced back to boats stolen from Florida marinas.

It goes without saying that the involvement of U.S. sactioned political groups in Mexican organized crime is national security concern for both nations.  Cuban, which considers CANF a terrorist front, also has a right to be concerned about the implications of these charges.

While more information should be forthcoming about the Cuban smugglers, at this point we at least know CANF was involved.  To what extent it was financing the operation — and profiting from it — is yet to be determined.  CANF does receive U.S. government funding through the Foundation For Democracy, but it is mostly considered a Republican Party pressure group.