Salvador Cienfuegos speaks in Mexico City in 2018.
Photographer: Lujan Agusti / Bloomberg
Photographer: Lujan Agusti / Bloomberg
The US Department of Justice criticized Mexico’s decision to publish the information given in confidence by the agency, and questioned whether countries should continue to share the documents.
In a statement, a department spokesman said the DOJ was “very disappointed” with Mexico’s decision to close an investigation into former defense minister General Salvador Cienfuegos, who was arrested in 2020 on charges of working with drug smugglers Was.
The fee was dropped in the US at Mexico’s request, and the general was sent to Mexico in November to investigate by local authorities.
On Friday, Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obredor said the US case against Cienfuegos had been fabricated, and the evidence had no value. The Foreign Ministry of the nation then released The 751-page evidence put together by the US was intended to aid Mexican investigators.
“Making such information public violates the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance between Mexico and United States of america, “A Department of Justice spokesman said in a statement. The decision also calls for” whether in question United States of america Mexico may continue to share information to support its criminal investigation. “
The agency said the published material showed a case against Cienfuegos but was anything but fabricated.
“Those materials also show that the information relied upon to charge General Sienfuegos was legitimately collected. United States of america, According to an appropriate US court order, and in full respect for Mexico’s sovereignty, ”the spokesperson said in the statement. “A US federal grand jury analyzed that material and other evidence and concluded that the criminal charges against Cienfuegos were supported by the evidence.”
Trust broken
The DOJ’s complaints are the latest development in a clash between two governments over the fate of CJfuegos.
“The entire file provided to the FGR will undoubtedly have an impact on cooperation and the exchange of information in the shortest time,” said Maureen Meyer, director of Mexico at the Mexican Attorney General’s Office, the Latin America think tank in Washington.
“A level of trust has been broken, which will need to be improved if both governments want to continue cooperating on criminal criminal matters,” Mayer said.
The document released by Mexico was addressed to Foreign Minister Marcello Eberard, and alleged that while Cenfuegos was employed by the Ministry of Defense, the general assisted and received bribes from the Patron-Sanchez drug trafficking organization in the Nairit state of Mexico.
“The evidence will show that he received a bribe from the Patron-Sanchez organization in exchange for information about protection in Mexico City, safe passage of narcotics and weapons, and military and law enforcement operations in Mexico,” a letter to Eberard says The beginning of the document, which was posted in a tweet by the Foreign Ministry.
The names of two Mexican senators – Miguel Osorio Chong and Iruviel Avila – appear in alleged texts between drug trackers; The DOJ documents posted by Mexico’s government have no analysis or context surrounding them. Neither senator responded to emailed requests for comment outside normal business hours. Both men took to Twitter on Friday to defend the integrity of Cienfuegos.
The DOJ states that information on the Cienfuegos case was shared with Mexico in confidence, and that it continues with its investigation and allegations.
Mexico and the United States have been in a prolonged dispute over general fate. To get Cienfuegos back on Mexican soil, Mexico Cooperation was threatened with cuts, stating that the US violated a 1992 agreement that all investigations working with the Latin American nation should be shared with Mexico.
In response to outrage from Mexican authorities, the DOJ asked for the charges to be dropped, and a federal judge in Brooklyn agreed. Cienfuegos returned to Mexico hours later, where the government told him that he would be investigated by local authorities and allowed to go home.
()Updates with reference to senators in the 13th paragraph.)
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