A spy in paradise: Reports by DFS agent Ayax Segura Garrido on social movements in Guerrero (1972-1975)

Abstract

The reports by agents of the Federal Security Directorate (DFS in Spanish) are a documentary source that allows us to analyze social movements. With this documentation, the reports that agent Ayax Segura Garrido sent to the director of the DFS from 1972 to 1975 will be analyzed. They were written during his assignment in the state of Guerrero, where he investigated the guerrilla group of the Partido de los Pobres, led by Lucio Cabañas Barrientos, and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias led by Carmelo Cortés Castro. His information network will allow us to reveal counterinsurgency actions in greater detail, with the objective of providing information on events to decision makers such as the Mexican Army, the Ministry of the Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación), and the Presidency of the Republic. The surveillance of guerrillas, social activists and peasants led to the searching of homes, identification of names, and access to documents detailing the strategies of those under investigation. Moreover, it facilitated the discovery of the whereabouts of the leaders, as well as the extrajudicial detention of some members of these groups, who were considered “suspects”,  to interrogate them and to dismantle social organizations through violence.