Mexican opposition asks Calderon, Napolitano not to stage ‘media stunt’ capture of drug lord

María Teresa Peña Pérez
www.sexenio.com.mx
Translated by Mario Andrade
DeadlineLive.info

Legislator Alejandro Encinas urged the (Mexican) government not to carry out a media stunt if the whereabouts of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman are known, as it would be an irresponsible and illegal act.

On Tuesday, Alejandro Encinas (congressman for the Democratic Revolutionary Party or PRD) expressed the need for the U.S. government to help in the capture of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman in a more active manner rather than just issuing public statements.

He said that much of the money from drug trafficking, particularly of the Sinaloa cartel, led by Guzman Loera, is laundered in the U.S., and later pointed out that there’s information indicating that El Chapo is able to freely cross the border between two countries without any problems.

Likewise, he stressed that if the Mexican government has information on the whereabouts of this criminal, it would be irresponsible to wait for the election season in order to carry out a media stunt. It would also be an illegal act.

“I think if one can keep track of all their announcements that have been made about how they’re hitting the Chapo Guzman cartel, one can see a pattern that is leading to a media stunt. That would be a huge irresponsibility in which the federal government would engage in a crime by manipulating the judicial process,” he said.

Meanwhile, Carlos Alberto Perez Cuevas, coordinator of the National Action Party (PAN) in congress, said that there will be no direct interference by U.S. agents inside the country during the arrest of the infamous drug dealer, because the Constitution prevents the intervention of foreign forces inside Mexico.

“The Constitution is very clear: Avoid the interference of foreign nations. And today, the Constitution does not allow foreign forces to participate in the investigation of this case inside Mexican territory,” he stated.

Regarding the recent statement by Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security in the  United States about the capture of Joaquin Guzman, the coordinator of the PRD, Armando Rios Piter, criticized the interior minister, Alejandro Poire, for not immediately addressing her comments during yesterday’s interview (when she implied that Guzman was going to face the same fate as Osama Bin Laden).

“It’s reason enough to not only call this to his attention, but to make the Secretary of Interior accountable, as well as all the authorities who have been engaged in this behavior, including the Foreign Relations Secretary,” he said.