November 14, 2000

(Publisher's note:  Due to requests from members of the media and other interested parties for sources of information regarding this article: The information used in writing this article was received by HispanicVista.Com from Jaime Orozco, a former employee of the Consulate General in San Diego. Included with the information were copies of the original letters mentioned. One of the letters contained 23 signatures, but one was illegible so reference to 22 signatures was made. The copy of the second letter written by Ms. Beatriz Bon Sandoval had the names of two witnesses to the events mentioned in the letter.

Mr. Orozco was fired from his position without notice shortly after Consul General Gabriela Torres Ramirez assumed her post in San Diego. Orozco joined by two other fired employees, carried out a campaign against the Consul General with a flurry of letters and press releases.

The Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico investigated the complaints and reached a settlement with Orozco and the other two former employees to their satisfaction. HispanicVista.Com has been kept abreast of these events, but did not publish articles because the information being received was one sided, and there was no corroboration from other sources. However, this changed with receipt of the signed copy of the letter by the consulate employees, and the letter from Ms. Bon Sandoval supported by two witnesses. HispanicVista.Com has copies of the letters and Mr. Orozco's electronic letters containing most of the other information used in the article. The other source of information comes from Patrick Osio, Jr., the author, who is an active member of the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce representing HispanicVista.Com in the San Diego-Tijuana region's Board of Directors, and a member of the Board of Directors of the South San Diego County Economic Development Council, and chaired the 2000 Economic Summit committee.)

Mutiny removes Consul General of Mexico in San Diego.

By Patrick Osio, Jr.

Amid accusations of corruption, ineptness and mistreatment of consular personnel, Gabriela Torres Ramirez, Consul General of Mexico is San Diego, leaves office on November 14 barely a year after taking office.

Consuls of Mexico, Hector Vanegas and Felipe Cuellar, joined by Vice Consul Pilar Hernandez, six consulate Chancellors and thirteen consulate employees drafted and signed a letter sent to Mexico Secretary of State (SRE) Rosario Green on October 11, 2000. The letter detailed numerous complaints about maltreatment and leveled accusations of corruption taking place at the consulate under Gabriela Torres Ramirez's care.

Torres Ramirez's problems began prior to arrival at her new post. She replaced the popular and well thought of Consul General Herrera Lasso, who was abruptly recalled to Mexico City in September of 1999.

According to Jaime Orozco, a former employee of the consulate, a cousin of Torres Ramirez in charge of organizing President Zedillo's travel itinerary, planned a coup against Herrera Lasso during the President's visit to San Diego, which lead to his dismissal and opened the door to recommend Torres Ramirez.

The letter to Secretary Green signed by the 22 consulate employees relates that Torres Ramirez has virtually destroyed years of diplomatic endeavor and success due to her indifference toward local organizations, the media and the community in general.

One of her first acts was to fire three consular employees without cause. One such person was Jaime Orozco, who had initiated under Herrera Lasso, cultural and educational programs meeting with community approval and success.

Orozco joined by the two other fired employees fought back, accusing Torres Ramirez of wrongful termination without compensation in accordance to Mexican labor law. The trio began a letter writing and public relations campaign picked up by Mexican media, eventually forcing the SRE into reaching a settlement, which included back wages and termination compensation.

During her short stay, Torres Ramirez had earned a reputation for turning down invitations to a number of functions of interest to Mexico. As the Consul General she was an Honorary President of the San Diego-Tijuana Region of the Pacific Chapter of the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, but she never accepted any of their invitations to attend events even when the program was to highlight her office and potential services for promoting business and investment in Mexico.

Consul Hector Vanegas had built a number of strong relationships with a number of different organizations and chambers. He was in attendance at most meetings and participated in planning events in which Mexico business and investment opportunities were to be a showcase.

However, within a few months of Torres Ramirez assuming office, Vanegas stopped attending planning meetings, and the Consulate became inactive in helping to organize events previously committed to help.

One such event was the South San Diego County Economic Development Council's annual Economic Summit in which various Mexican states were to participate. The Consulate was to act as the liaison with the various Mexican states, but those efforts suddenly stopped without notice.

Not known then, but recently learned was that this was as a result of Consul Vanegas being restrained from attending and participating with the SSCEDC, as he had been with the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce.

Things came to a boil in the Consulate when it was learned that Torres Ramirez had an employee hired by her to maintain the Consulate computer equipment, was intercepting and reading email sent and received by Consulate employees. And, was erasing files being kept with information she assumed was derogatory to her. When Consul Vanegas complained to her about some of his missing files, she turned on him with a tongue lashing in front of the Consulate staff.

Consulate employee, Beatriz Bon Sandoval, wrote a second and potentially a more damaging letter. In it she relates she was hired as a receptionist in March 1999, but that after a month on the job she was promoted as the assistant to the Consulate's Administrative Office headed by Consul Sandra Hernandez Arias, by order of the Consul General, Gabriela Torres Ramirez.

Bon Sandoval had no previous experience in office administration and asked for training and enumeration of her tasks, which she never received. Towards the end of April, Bon Sandoval relates, she was told to start preparing the Consulate's expense report, a task she had never done.

The expense report include an accounting for every expenditure made by the Consulate, and must be filed with the SRE in Mexico City during the first week of each month.

Bon Sandoval without accounting experience was to gather all expense reports from the various departments, invoices for goods and services, Consulate personal expenses incurred by those authorized, balance the check books, and make a final audited report to the SRE. Consul Hernandez Arias signed the final reports before submitting to the SRE.

"I began to realize that my superior (Hernandez Arias) was submitting expense receipts that were not spent, invoices for materials that were not received at the Consulate, and as though that was not enough, she started to ask me for gasoline receipts, or for receipts  that could be reported as expenses to the Consulate so they might be included in the monthly expense report," stated Bon Sandoval in her letter.

Bon Sandoval's letter also relates that Consul Hernandez Arias called her into her office on August 14 of this year and instructed her to take a flight that same afternoon to Mexico City. Immediately on arrival, she was to go to the SRE offices to pick up the monthly reports for the months of April, May and June that were being lent for corrections. Bon Sandoval returned on the next morning flight with the reports.

Hernandez Arias made the corrections to the reports and changed the computer files to correspond, then returned the reports to the SRE. Bon Sandoval's letter states that the Consul paid for the flight with a personal check.

On her return, Hernandez Arias told Bon Sandoval that $750 had been stolen from the safe deposit on the night she had gone to Mexico City, and asked her and other to provide expense vouchers to cover the theft. According to Bon Sandoval's letter there was another theft reported by Hernandez Arias to Consulate employees on September 1, followed by a request to provide expense receipts.

The Beatriz Bon Sandoval letter was also sent to the Secretary of State with copies to members of the Fox transition team.