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Andrés Manuel López Obrador

The United States stirs up the hornet’s nest of drug trafficking in Mexico

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com September 20, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

All the news about drug trafficking in Mexico is happening in the United States. The Attorney General’s Office of the Eastern District of New York requested this Thursday that Genaro García Luna, the anti-drug czar of the Felipe Calderón government, be sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of five million dollars for the crimes of cocaine trafficking, organized crime and false statements on October 9. Ismael is expected to be sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of five million dollars for the crimes of cocaine trafficking, organized crime and false statements on October 9. The May Zambada steps into that same court and appears before the same judge three weeks later, on October 31. Three hundred kilometers to the south, in Washington, a jury is already deliberating on the verdict of Rubén Oseguera. The Menchitoson of Nemesio Oseguera The Menchothe leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. And before the end of this month, Ovidio Guzmán, El Chapo’s son, is due to appear in court in Chicago, after weeks of speculation about his whereabouts. While the judicial offensive advances on several fronts in US territory, Sinaloa has been burning for 10 days, caught in the worst cartel war in more than a decade. Andrés Manuel López Obrador affirmed that the US is “jointly responsible” for the wave of violence that is ravaging the State, a historic bastion of the Sinaloa Cartel, for taking its attempts to capture El Mayo to the bitter end.

“It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the defendant’s crimes, the deaths and addictions he facilitated, and his betrayal of the people of Mexico and the United States,” reads the latest memo sent by prosecutors in the case against García Luna, former Secretary of Public Security and architect of the war on drugs. “His crimes demand justice,” the prosecution adds to convince the judge that the former official should spend the rest of his life in prison. This week, his lawyers made public a letter accusing López Obrador of having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and pushing judicial reform to “benefit criminals.” García Luna also revealed that U.S. authorities offered him a reduced sentence in exchange for snitching on other Mexican politicians and businessmen, which has reignited the debate about a possible negotiation after his sentencing.

López Obrador said that the former official’s letter, his first public statement in his own handwriting since he was found guilty in February of last year, is a sign of “desperation” and demanded that he present evidence to support the accusations against him. The confrontation between the president and the former secretary was reactivated in light of the approaching sentencing hearing in the Brooklyn court, with an exchange of statements that took García Luna’s defense by surprise, who has had little contact with his client in recent months. His lawyers have announced that they will appeal the sentence, which will be a minimum of 20 years in prison.

The fall of García Luna, the highest-ranking former Mexican official to ever set foot in a U.S. court, has gained attention for its symbolism, but it is not the front that most worries the López Obrador government. The unexpected capture of El Mayo on July 25 in New Mexico continues to make waves south of the border, with an open confrontation between Zambada’s people and Los Chapitos for control of the Sinaloa Cartel that has sown chaos in Culiacán and other surrounding municipalities. Around 50 people have been killed in the last two weeks and dozens more have been arrested, injured and disappeared, according to official figures. Revenge for the betrayal that led to the arrest of the 76-year-old boss came five weeks late and now no one, neither authorities nor analysts nor residents, dares to give a forecast of when the violence will end.

The president refuses to acknowledge the extent of the latest fracture of the Sinaloa Cartel, but the terror that reigns in the State has led him to air the biggest claim he has made against the US government since the capture of El Mayo. “An explanation is required, because if we are now facing a situation of instability and confrontation in Sinaloa, it is because they made that decision, and we do not agree that Mexico should be ignored because we have the problem here,” said the president. “It was totally illegal,” said the president about the arrest of Zambada. “How does it help to stop the drug addiction problem in the United States?” he questioned about Washington’s strategy against the leaders of the cartels, which has failed to stop drug flows for decades, but is still in vogue. “How is it that we never know that there are famous cartels and bosses in the United States?” he concluded about the pressures on Mexico at the bilateral security table.

López Obrador also questioned the plea deals the United States has promoted to bring down big bosses. The trial against El Menchito has been a parade of former allies and enemies ready to testify about his meteoric rise in the Jalisco Cartel, his corrupt dealings to avoid the law and his extensive record in the shadow of his father, despite the fact that he is only 34 years old. The trial against García Luna saw almost thirty witnesses take the stand, including more than a dozen convicted criminals. Mexico’s eyes are on Ovidio Guzmán and his brother Joaquín Guzmán López, who established contacts for years with different U.S. agencies to negotiate a surrender and are the main suspects of orchestrating El Mayo’s handover, according to Mexican authorities. “They made a deal and they didn’t inform us,” the president said, stressing that the United States has not been transparent about Zambada’s arrest and responding to questions about its security policy, which is viewed with skepticism in both countries.

The latest controversy aside, the underlying question is whether both countries have the capacity to maintain a common agenda against organized crime. The López Obrador government has pushed for equal treatment and an admission of co-responsibility in the drug trafficking phenomenon. The Joe Biden administration has conceded the former, understanding the need to have Mexico as an ally to contain migration and drug trafficking, but the predominant focus in the war on drugs continues to base its most visible efforts on ending supply, with virtually no mention of demand. Meanwhile, the fentanyl epidemic claims tens of thousands of American lives every year.

“We are also interested in keeping fentanyl from reaching the United States, but the United States has to do its part, we have to do our part in our country, and coordinate, collaborate,” said Claudia Sheinbaum, the president-elect. The latest disagreement between the two countries comes less than two weeks after the change of government in Mexico and a month and a half before Americans go to the polls. And the contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will be decisive, whether it be to turn to more heavy-handed policies that stir up trouble again or to repair the channels that have been broken and make a last attempt at collaboration. Meanwhile, Sinaloa is holding its breath.

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September 20, 2024 0 comments

News

Milei cancels her tour to Mexico due to opinion poll

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com August 24, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

Buenos Aires. Just days before boarding a private flight to Mexico, Argentine President Javier Milei cancelled what was to be his 14th international tour, following the publication of an opinion poll by Zuban Córdoba that revealed the anger caused in the population by his continuous trips paid for with taxpayers’ money. Milei had planned to attend the conference of the Conservative Political Action Party, organized by Mexican actor Eduardo Verástegui.

With each trip Milei makes, the Casa Rosada’s communications emphasize that Argentina becomes “a beacon in the world,” but on the street the only thing that shines is anger, underlined the newspaper Página/12.

This was illustrated by the study by Zuban Córdoba, which asked Argentines to “measure” the seriousness of a list of current issues. The first “most serious” case was the increase in poverty. Next came the increase in unemployment, the arrest of a deputy accused of being part of a pedophile network and the economic crisis. Then came the president’s trips paid for by public funds.

According to public information requested by Página/12, three of the most expensive tours were those that the libertarian undertook with a personal or strictly partisan political objective. In just three of the 13 trips he made, Milei spent more than half a million dollars: the first of the visits to Madrid, from May 16 to 20, the fourth trip to the United States, based in Los Angeles, California, and one of his trips to Miami from April 12 to 16.

#Milei #cancels #tour #Mexico #due #opinion #poll
– 2024-08-24 08:33:16

August 24, 2024 0 comments

World

The private sector is against judicial reform: “The price of Mexican assets will suffer” | Economy

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com August 24, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

If last year was a celebration of economic optimism in Mexico, this week felt like a hangover. The tensions that began with the overwhelming victory of the ruling party and its allies in the June 2 elections reached feverish proportions when the markets, investment banks, employers and even the US ambassador warned strongly about the dangers of the reform of the judiciary proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. They claim that democracy is at stake, but the economy will also suffer.

The crux of the matter is the popular election of judges, ministers and magistrates at the federal level, which is expected to take place for the first time next year to replace up to 900 positions in a single election, according to the latest version of the ruling. Later, judicial elections are expected to be synchronized with the calendar of elections for federal deputies. The executive, legislative and judicial branches must nominate the candidates, who must be law graduates who meet certain requirements.

The opposition, as well as non-governmental organizations, pointed out that this system puts the Judiciary in the hands of the Government, eliminating the separation of powers. Therefore, among the hundreds of modifications to the original project, a filter was included in the list of candidates by an Evaluation Committee made up of five people recognized in the judicial activity. The final selection will be by public draw, ensuring gender parity, the opinion states.

“They are going to dictate the lists and everything else, that is, they continue to control and the vote will be irrelevant,” says Luis Maizel, a Mexican investor in the United States and director of LM Capital Group. Maizel says that he has sold some of his Mexican debt bonds this year, first when the election results were known and again in recent days, when the National Electoral Institute (INE) outlined granting Morena and its allied parties a qualified majority in the Chamber of Deputies. This practically guarantees that Morena will approve the Judicial Reform next month, which will be up for the new legislature “plus whatever López Obrador comes up with,” says Maizel, “I am terrified of September.”

Dread was the sentiment that dominated the private sector, both inside and outside Mexico, this week. The Mexican peso, which had already lost 9.5% of its value against the dollar since the elections, fell another 2.6%, closing at 19.10 per dollar. This wiped out all the gains made during the sustained appreciation of the exchange rate during 2023 and part of 2022, driven by remittances, tourism and investment from foreign companies seeking to expand their operations in Mexico by taking advantage of the trade war with China.

Also this week, three global investment banks published separate reports warning that the risk of investing in Mexico had just increased due to the high possibility of the judicial reform being passed. The country’s largest employers’ associations asked the INE to limit the representation of Morena and its allies in Congress, something that would have made it difficult to approve the reform, which, one of them said, “puts democracy at risk.” The United Nations, for its part, had already spoken out against it, arguing that it could “undermine the independence of the judiciary.”

But the strongest, and most surprising, message came from the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, who changed his mind in just one week. On Friday, August 16, he told reporters that he supported the popular election of judges only to change his position on Thursday. “The direct election of judges represents a greater risk to the functioning of democracy in Mexico,” he said in his second press conference. “The debate over the direct election of judges in these times, as well as the fierce politics if the elections of judges in 2025 and 2027 were to be approved, threaten the historic commercial relationship that we have built,” he added.

“Because in general terms this is, without a doubt, something negative and to avoid something like this happening, or to change it, you have to up the ante,” says Damian Fraser, former managing director of the investment bank UBS in Mexico and director of the business consultancy Miranda Partners. “Writing a balanced letter saying ‘this is something bad’ will not get you much attention. Therefore, you have to say that Mexican democracy is at risk if you want people to listen and to develop a campaign against it,” adds the specialist.

Benito Berber, chief economist for the Americas at investment bank Natixis, expects a combination of market pressure, internal political pressure and external pressure to water down the final proposal. “President López Obrador is determined to capture the judges and the impact on the investment climate, domestic and international, will be negative,” says the specialist, “so it is very possible that the price of Mexican assets, including the exchange rate, will suffer as a consequence of the approval of the reform.”

Most states in the neighboring country have judicial elections, but not at the federal level. In addition, in the US it is usually juries that determine guilt and judges that pass sentence. “The United States has a civic culture and a culture of the rule of law that is infinitely stronger than in Mexico,” says Fraser, “I think that, if you put it all together, it is not really that comparable.”

Both Maizel and Fraser agree that the politicization that could occur in the Judiciary as a result of the reform adds to other factors that already made Mexico a risky or less attractive investment destination than other peers. “There is much more to consider in any investment decision than just a reform like this,” explains Fraser, “the fiscal deficit is high, the economy is slowing down, the quality of public policy and the decision to waste resources on projects such as a refinery or the Mayan Train has been very poor… so I definitely think that the reaction of the private sector and the concern is appropriate.”

“Power makes you sick. If you don’t control it, if there’s no one to stop you, if there’s no one to limit you, the exercise of power becomes an abuse of power,” says Maizel, referring to the control of Congress, the presidency and, potentially, the judiciary by López Obrador’s party. “What investors like is when power has to negotiate transcendental changes for the country, where there is discussion, where there is acceptance, where there are differences. A situation in which you can change an entire country by decree is dangerous, and that’s where I think Mexico is heading now, unfortunately,” concludes the investor.

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August 24, 2024 0 comments

World

López Obrador criticizes Ken Salazar’s “arrogant” and “interventionist” attitude against judicial reform

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com August 23, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

“Unfortunate” and “imprudent.” This is how Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the statements made by Ambassador Ken Salazar against his proposal for reform of the Judicial Branch. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs expressed in a protest note her “deep surprise” at the comments made by the US representative against the election by popular vote of judges, magistrates and ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, stating that “it is a risk for democracy in Mexico.” “We are not going to submit to any country or any foreign power,” said the president in La Mañanera this Friday. The president reproached Washington’s “arrogant policy” towards the entire continent and its “crude interventionist attitude,” and demanded that there be no interference in the country’s internal affairs.

Salazar said that the direct election of members of the judiciary, proposed by López Obrador and Morena, his party, opens the door to an increase in the influence of organized crime in the justice system and threatens the commercial relationship between both countries. “Direct elections could also make it easier for cartels and other malicious actors to take advantage of inexperienced judges with political motivations,” said the U.S. ambassador, in an unusual press conference on Thursday, in which he abandoned his usual conciliatory tone with the Mexican government and put the concerns of his country’s investors on the table. It was the strongest position from the United States against the bill, after months of nervousness in the private sector and the markets.

“[La declaración] “It represents an unacceptable act of interference, it contravenes the sovereignty of the United Mexican States and does not reflect the degree of mutual respect that characterizes the relations between both countries,” reads the protest note from the Mexican Foreign Ministry. The diplomatic response emphasizes that the issue “is of a strictly internal nature,” although it does not go beyond estrangement and does not contemplate other actions that raise tensions between both countries. “We are independent, we are sovereign and we must be good neighbors,” López Obrador stressed. “No foreign country can impose on us the policies that correspond to Mexicans to decide,” he concluded.

López Obrador highlighted the deterioration of bilateral relations in recent weeks, marked by the controversy following the arrest of Ismael El Mayo Zambada and clashes between several US agencies, such as the DEA and the State Department, and the Mexican president. “Recently, there have been acts of disrespect for our sovereignty, such as this statement,” the president accused. “I hope it will not be repeated,” he added.

The president also referred to the letter he sent last Friday to Joe Biden, his American counterpart, regarding the State Department’s funding of organizations critical of his government, such as Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity, which he also described as an act of “interference.” “This is not Ken, Ken is the spokesperson, this is the United States Department of State,” he said. The head of the Executive also sent a veiled message to the Democratic Administration, in the midst of the United States presidential campaign. “We came to an understanding with Trump,” he said in an intervention that lasted about an hour at his morning conference.

The exchange of statements between the president and the ambassador also marked a sudden change of tone in the bilateral relationship and suggests that trade tensions over judicial reform can be resolved in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The Canadian ambassador, Graeme C. Clark, also acknowledged on Thursday that there are “concerns” among investors in his country, although he was much more cautious in his comments. “The way the United States and Canada are harmonizing is regrettable,” López Obrador criticized. “Who are they to give an opinion?” he questioned. “What is the affront that is being committed? That we Mexicans do not live in a democracy, that democracy is not the government of the people and for the people?”

Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Graeme C. Clark during a conference in Mexico City on August 22. José Méndez (EFE)

López Obrador took the opportunity to attack the media that echoed the ambassador’s comments and his political opponents, whom he called “corrupt,” “hypocritical” and “fascist.” “Why don’t they want the people to choose? Because currently the majority of the members of the Judiciary are employees of the powerful,” he said, in a jab at the opposition and at Salazar himself, who has favored a conciliatory tone in the three years he has been in the country to keep the channels of both countries open and had avoided airing the disagreements until this week.

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has joined in the criticism of Salazar’s comments. “Very relevant information: in 43 of the 50 states of the United States of America, judges are elected by popular vote,” she said on her social media. The Mexican opposition, on the other hand, echoed the concerns of foreign investors. “In the United States, they also see this government’s judicial reform and the popular election of judges, magistrates and ministers as dangerous and worrying,” commented Marko Cortés, leader of the National Action Party. “It is clear that everyone sees it, except the president and company,” he added. The initiative has also sparked internal resistance, with a work stoppage that has spread to around twenty states in the country and that the government has described as “illegal.”

Ricardo Monreal, López Obrador’s pawn in the Legislative Branch, where Morena and its allies have the majority, assured Salazar that “what is his concern will not happen” and announced that he will send her the proposed changes to clarify the motivations of the reform, criticized by the opposition as an attempt by the ruling bloc to subordinate the Judicial Branch. Congress will prioritize the approval of the initiative, as well as a battery of proposals promoted by López Obrador, in the legislature that starts on September 1, a month before Sheinbaum assumes as president. The controversy, however, goes beyond the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and threatens to become a major problem in the relationship with the United States, Mexico’s main trading partner.

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August 23, 2024 0 comments

News

AMLO accuses the US of maintaining an “interventionist attitude” – 2024-08-22 21:05:22

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com August 22, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

MEX3585. MEXICO CITY (MEXICO), 05/04/2024.- The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, participates this Friday in a morning press conference at the National Palace, in Mexico City (Mexico). EFE/ Isaac Esquivel

The president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorrevealed on Monday the content of the letter he sent on Friday to his American counterpart, Joe Bidenin which he asked to stop the “clearly interventionist attitude” of the Government of USA by financing Mexican civil organizations.

“I hope I can do something to stop this injustice that threatens our constitutional principle of non-intervention and self-determination of peoples.”the president revealed when reading the content of the letter during his morning press conference.

In the text, the Mexican ruler reminded Biden that he has long “publicly” denounced those who since Washington They have had an “interventionist” attitude by financing organizations such as Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI)whose main purpose, he argued, has been to attack his Administration.

AMLO accuses the US of maintaining an “interventionist attitude”
– 2024-08-22 21:05:22 — Washington (United States), 07/04/2024.- US President Joe Biden delivers a speech during a barbecue with military members and their families at the celebrations of the United States Independence Day on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, United States, 04 July 2024. July 4 is the annual celebration in the United States of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. (United Kingdom) EFE/EPA/WILL OLIVER

López Obrador said that between 2018 and 2023, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated 111 million pesos (5.91 million dollars) to MCCI.

Although he acknowledged that the amount is “relatively small,” López Obrador described the procedure as “completely offensive.”

“Even though it is a relatively small amount, this procedure is completely offensive and contrary to the relations of respect for our sovereignties that both you and I have been cultivating for the good of our nations.”he stressed.

López Obrador concluded his message by emphasizing his hope that Biden will take steps to stop this “grievance” and noted that, although he values the personal relationship between the two, the issues of freedom and independence of peoples are paramount.

“I hope I can do something to stop this injustice that threatens our constitutional principle of non-intervention and self-determination of peoples.”he noted.

“I’m sorry to address you directly on this subject. Believe me, I appreciate you and I don’t want to bother you in any way, but as you understand, the issues related to the freedom and independence of peoples go beyond personal feelings.”he concluded.

Last week, Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) revealed that the civil organization MCCI, which has denounced corruption scandals of the current government, including officials and children of López Obrador, allegedly receives money from the United States.

According to the agency, MCCI’s income began to be recorded in 2016, and by 2023 it totaled a little over 502.58 million pesos (26.7 million dollars), while from 2017 to 2023 it received just over 13 million pesos (690,000 dollars) from accounts originating in the United States.

In 2023, the US Government’s USAID admitted funding of more than six million dollars to MCCI, an organization founded by the businessman Claudio X. Gonzalezan open opponent of the López Obrador government. EFE (I)

#AMLO #accuses #maintaining #interventionist #attitude

August 22, 2024 0 comments

World

“There is no coincidence” in the dissemination of the letter from ‘El Mayo’: AMLO

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com August 12, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

Culiacan, Sin. In a direct allusion to the appearance this morning of the alleged testimony of the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Ismael “The May” Zambada, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asserted that “there is no coincidence” in the circumstances that have recently occurred.

“It turns out that we are here in Culiacán, so we are going to talk about the issue right away,” he emphasized when giving his support to the state governor, Rubén Rocha Moya, just as the virtual president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, had done previously.

The inauguration ceremony of an IMSS-Bienestar hospital in this capital was marked by the alleged declaration of The May Zambada. The president and his virtual successor were accompanied by Governor Rocha.

The head of the Executive stressed that although there are good relations with the United States government, “there is this temptation to want to rule everywhere, to stick one’s nose in everywhere.”

This morning, the alleged statement by Ismael Zambada was revealed, in which he allegedly stated that on July 25 he was taken against his will to the United States, after an alleged meeting with the governor of Sinaloa, Joaquín Guzmán López —son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán— and the former rector of the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas, Héctor Melesio Cuén, who was murdered the same day the drug lords were arrested in Texas.

From here, a land stigmatized for being the birthplace of the Sinaloa cartel, the federal president congratulated the governor for coming forward and not letting a day go by to clarify the issue.

“We have full confidence in Governor Rubén Rocha Moya of Sinaloa, and I congratulate him because he stands up for himself, he didn’t let a day go by, because there is no such thing as a coincidence:

“Yesterday morning we were asking for information, at noon the United States ambassador (Ken Salazar) reported on the version they have of these events here in Sinaloa, and today this letter appears (from ‘El Mayo’). And it turns out that we are here in Culiacán, so we are going to talk about the issue right away. And how good that (Rocha) clarified what the situation is, where you were and that you were never invited to any event. It is as clear as water!” the president stressed.

He predicted that “they will not stop” because there is anger among conservatives in the country as well as in various sectors of Washington.

“It won’t stop, Chico Che says: ‘It won’t stop, my friend, it won’t stop.’ Listen to him, listen. Because they are upset, they don’t like the transformation, not those inside, the conservatives, nor some who were badly accustomed to feeling like they own the world. We have a very good relationship with the American people and with the governments of the United States, but there is this temptation to want to rule everywhere, to stick our noses in everywhere.”

In this sense, he stressed that Mexico is an independent, free and sovereign country. “Here we Mexicans rule. And perhaps before there were rulers who had no moral authority and who established relations of complicity with crime, whether with crime or with white-collar crime, then they could put any president of our country in the dock; but now things have changed, we have moral authority and we have political authority, and we apply, let it be heard loud and clear, a maxim: do not lie, do not steal and do not betray the people.”

Previously, the virtual president-elect expressed her support for the governor. “We will continue to support the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, and his people. Whoever wants to stigmatize this beautiful state should stick to its history.”

Sheinbaum said that the men and women of Sinaloa are good and hard-working.

“Most of the corn consumed in Mexico is produced here in Sinaloa, and we already know that without corn there is no country.”

#coincidence #dissemination #letter #Mayo #AMLO
– 2024-08-12 09:50:53

August 12, 2024 0 comments

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