Officials Jittery About Possibility of Terrorism : Mexico Tightens Security for World Cup

Jitters about possible terrorist attacks during the approaching World Cup soccer tournament have prompted Mexico to undertake stringent security precautions in cities and at stadiums where the games will be played.

The concern has been intensified by a recent rash of bomb threats telephoned to establishments as widely varied as hamburger stands and the American Embassy.

About 30,000 police and soldiers will guard airports, stadiums, training camps, hotels and roads, according to the Interior Ministry.

“The security system designed by Mexico includes four areas--control of international crime, prevention of terrorism, crowd protection and security of installations,” said Ignacio Morales, a coordinator in the Interior Ministry’s public safety office.

To keep enthusiasm from being mistaken for terrorism, fans will be forbidden to set off firecrackers during the games, Morales said.

Mexican security officials have taken advice from FBI agents familiar with security at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, as well as the security agencies of France and Spain. The last World Cup was staged in Spain in 1982.

However, a U.S. offer to provide sophisticated FBI technical and intelligence help during the World Cup was rejected, apparently because of Mexico’s nationalistic sensitivities.

“The intervention of foreign police will not be permitted for any reason, since it would offend the sovereignty and principles of Mexico,” said Jorge Carrillo, vice minister of the interior.

Heavy security has become a feature of international sports events since 1972, when Israeli participants in the Olympic Games at Munich, West Germany, were killed by Palestinian terrorists.

Next to the Olympics, the quadrennial World Cup tournament is probably the most popular international sports spectacle, and heavy publicity, considered by many security experts to be a prime attraction for terrorists, is guaranteed at such an event. World Cup soccer matches will be televised to every corner of the globe and viewed by hundreds of millions of soccer fans.

This year’s series of 52 games begins May 31, and national teams from the 24 participating countries have begun to arrive here. The event will be staged in 12 stadiums in nine cities. As many as 50,000 foreign fans are expected to visit.

No Major Attacks

Mexico has never been the scene of a major terrorist attack. In April, as tension built up between the United States and Libya, telephoned bomb threats became commonplace in the capital. Late last month, 30 pounds of explosives were found in a stolen Renault parked next to the U.S. Embassy on Paseo de la Reforma, a major boulevard in central Mexico City.

Police, tipped off by calls to newspapers, defused the explosives before a blast could occur. Since then, the street passing the embassy building has been blocked off, and a dozen policemen are stationed permanently around the embassy’s perimeter.

A group calling itself the Simon Bolivar Internationalist Commando claimed responsibility for placing the bomb.

Since then, security has been tightened at several office buildings on Paseo de la Reforma, an artery on which many U.S. companies have offices. Police guards inspect packages and briefcases of visitors and tenants alike in the affected buildings.

Increasingly frequent violence by soccer fans is also a worry here. Last week, a newspaper in West Germany cautioned that the German team “should expect antipathy from the Mexican fans” because a star Mexican player was injured in a recent game in West Berlin.

Attention has centered on British fans because of last year’s soccer tragedy in Belgium, where fans from Liverpool assaulted fans from Italy. A section of the stadium collapsed, and 38 people died.

As a consequence, British fans coming to World Cup matches here were required to present letters of recommendation from their hometown clubs to be able to buy special charter air tickets to Mexico. The letters, which carry a translation into Spanish, certify that the bearer has never engaged in hooliganism.

The World Cup itself has been relatively free of violence, although in 1970 fights broke out between British and Brazilian fans after a particularly hard-fought match.

In any event, organizers are taking no chances. Drinks sold in stadiums will be cooled with finely crushed ice rather than cubes, to avoid providing fans with handy, makeshift missiles.