FTR-281 Los Amigos de Bush (Two 30-minute segments) (Sources are noted in parentheses.)

1. With the United States once again experiencing an “energy crisis,” George “W” has turned to Mexico as a potential source for the “energy” the United States allegedly lacks. ("US Looks Abroad for Help on Energy" by Henry Tricks; Financial Times; 3/9/2001; p. 6.) (For background on the Bush family and the "energy crisis," see also: FTR #’s 29, 214, 236, 280.)

2. After visiting Mexico himself, Bush dispatched Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to Mexico City, in order to work with his "regional counterparts. . . [he said] that he favored ‘freer flow of energy and capital among ourselves’ because of dramatic increases in global energy demand." (Idem.)

3. What has largely escaped notice is the fact that the Bush family has long had political and commercial ties with the Mexican energy interests. ("Los Amigos de Bush: The Shady Ties of George W. Bush’s Latino Friends" by Julie Reynolds; El Andar; Fall 2000 [Volume 11, #3]; pp. 20-27.)

4. In addition to their central role in both the Mexican energy business and the formation of NAFTA, these Latino allies of Dubya have numerous ties to drug cartels. (Ibid.; p. 20.)

5. One of the central figures in this political milieu is Ernesto Ancira Jr., whose “family and their partners practically own the energy business in Mexico.” (Ibid.; p. 21.)

6. In addition, Ancira “spent his formative years close to his industrialist cousins in Mexico, who are in-laws of the Salinas family.” (Idem.) (Carlos Salinas Gortari was President of Mexico and signed the NAFTA treaty for Mexico.)

7. Pivotally involved in the negotiations that led to the formation of NAFTA, “he [Ancira] bestowed travel gifts on Bush’s Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher, Sr.” (Ibid.; p. 22.)

8. “He [Ancira] reportedly piloted his Cessna to host airborne meetings so that Mosbacher and his Mexican counterpart, Jaime Serra, could privately discuss NAFTA.” (Idem.)

9. One of Bush’s most important Latin backers, Ancira “co-chaired ‘Adelante con Bush’ when George Senior ran for president, and along the way, he befriended George W." (Idem.)

10. “He [Ancira] is one of the folks George W. Bush’s people call his ‘100 closest friends,’ a group that kicked off W’s presidential campaign last year with $1000 donations.” (Idem.)

11. Together with attorney Roy Barrera Junior, Ancira is an important reason for the support that Dubya received from the Latin population in Texas. Barrera, too, was allied with Bush Senior. “During the president’s 1992 campaign Little Roy [Barrera] even teamed up and drove a mobile home from Austin to San Antonio to stump for the candidate. That same year, Barrera became head of the Bexar County (San Antonio) Republican party and has chaired it ever since.” (Idem.)

12. Barrera’s chummy relationship with Barbara Bush (and the rest of the Bush clan) is all the more interesting in light of his status as being “among Texas’s best narco-lawyers.” (Idem.)

13. Ancira, too, has numerous ties to people involved with some of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels. (Ibid.; p. 21.)

14. Furthermore, the individuals connected to the Bush Latino circle also have evidentiary tributaries running in the direction of a number of murders, including the assassinations of Mexican politicians Luis Donaldo Colosio and Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu. (Ibid.; pp. 23-24.)

15. Ancira was part of a troika that encompassed financier Guillermo Avila, developer Gustavo Garcia and (later) Enrique Fuentes Leon. (Ibid.; p. 22.)

16. “Avila was found guilty of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments on behalf of drug traffickers. Incredibly, he served a little over a year in prison. Afterward, he was banished from the U.S. and moved to San Luis Potosi.” (Idem.)

17. Ancira “wrote to the US Attorney in the case and said that Avila was a ‘responsible individual’ who had a ‘positive impact on our community.’” (Idem.)

18. As mentioned above, Barrera (and his father) have defended numerous drug kingpins. “Among the choice clients the Barreras have defended are the Juarez cartel’s US ‘coordinator’ Juan Chapa Garza (now serving thirty years for drug trafficking and money laundering), and Mario Alberto Salinas Trevino, a cocaine runner and alleged murder, whom the FBI also links to the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena.” (Ibid.; p. 23.)

19. One of the most unsavory of the Bush circle, is Enrique Fuentes Leon. Leon was “a fugitive sought in Mexico for bribing judges on behalf of a rich Acapulco playboy who raped, tortured and killed a six-year old girl.” (Idem.)

20. “Fuentes Leon fled to Chile, then Argentina. Then he arrived in Texas with a visa that said he was an investor.” (Idem.)

21. “With his visa about to expire, Fuentes Leon made fruitless pleas to America’s high and mighty--including George W. Bush, who called his father, the president, on behalf of Fuentes Leon’s behalf.” (Idem.)

22. In addition, Fuentes Leon was about to face charges of attempted bribery and drug money-laundering. (Idem.)

23. He was represented by the Barreras. (Idem.)

24. “At the hearing, a remarkable tape was played, recorded while Fuentes Leon arranged to bribe an undercover INS agent. The tape was made in the summer of 1994, a few months after the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio. Fuentes Leon bragged that his son Enrique, also a lawyer, was ‘one of [Mexican President] Zedillo’s people.’ In a moment of bravado, Fuentes Leon told the INS agent, ‘I know how they killed Colosio.’ And he said something even more chilling: ‘in the end, in August. . .there are going to be deaths and all that shit, eh?. . .There are going to be more deaths.’ And so it was: Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the Guerrero governor who had wanted Fuentes Leon to face charges in Mexico, was assassinated soon after.” (Idem.)

25. According to US agents, “another man wanted for orchestrating the assassination’s logistics was with Fuentes Leon moments before his arrest in San Antonio. The man, Manuel Munoz Rocha, simply walked away, because at the time the agents didn’t know he was a fugitive with a $1 million price on his head.” (Idem.)

26. There are a number of evidentiary tributaries connecting Munoz Rocha to the Massieu assassination. (Ibid.; pp. 23, 26.)

27. Ultimately, Raul Salinas (Carlos’ brother) was convicted of the Massieu murder. Raul Salinas also has links to the Bush clan. “Raul Salinas, the president’s brother, has told investigators that Jeb and Columba Bush joined him three times for vacations at his Hacienda Las Mendocinas.” (Ibid.; p. 21.)

28. The third member of the Encira threesome, Gustavo Garcia is an interesting individual, as well. “Garcia has been under investigation by the DEA for cocaine trafficking in Florida and Venezuela, and by local police for money laundering in San Antonio.” (Ibid.; p. 26.)

29. One of Garcia’s business partners is Anuar Name. “Newspapers reported that Name co-owned a Tijuana disco, together with a member of the Caro-Quintero drug cartel of Sonora. Name is also an associate of Egyptian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, a friend of Raul Salinas, and a partner of PRI king-maker Carlos Hank Gonzalez, whose family has been investigated in the US, Costa Rica and Mexico for links to drug cartels, murder and money laundering.” (Idem.) (Khashoggi was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. George Bush, Sr. orchestrated that operation.)

30. In turn, Name is close to Joseph Audi of the Lebanese Bank Audi. (Idem.) That bank “has been involved in a multi-million dollar arms running and money laundering scandal. . . . But Bank Audi has a more auspicious claim to fame: its Geneva branch was the issuing bank of a $599,985 payment that made its way through several banks until it landed in an account belonging to Manuel Munoz Rocha and a hit man convicted in the assault that killed Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu.” (Idem.)

31. Bush associate Roy Barrera got himself involved with yet another grisly case. “He represented millionaire Allan Blackthorne after the contract-style murder of Blackthorne’s ex-wife, Sheila Bellush. The case made national headlines because Bellush was stabbed to death in front of her toddler quadruplets, and they crawled in her blood until they were found. The hit man, Jose Del Toro, fled to Mexico and was represented by none other than Barrera’s old Gulf cartel client, the prestigious office of Enrique Fuentes Leon. Barrera was dropped as Blackthorne’s lawyer, and the US Justice Department began investigating who paid Del Toro’s presumably high-priced legal bills. Del Toro said, in a taped interview, that he was told by his US lawyer that Barrera had hired Fuentes Leon.” (Ibid.; p.27.)

32. To learn more about these connections, visit El Andar’s web site at www.elandar.com to learn more about this courageous and remarkable article. (See also: L #'s 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 RFA #'s 29-35, 38, Miscellaneous Archive Shows M-24, M-29, M-36, M-43, M-51, and FTR #'s 29, 31, 52, 106, 110, 111, 112, 115, 116, 143, 174, 181, 214, 236, 244, 248, 249, 255, 256, 258, 259, 268, 273, 277, 280.)