Sheinbaum affirms that the “El Mayo” process will not be carried out with blackmail or threats

MEXICO CITY (apro).- The route that the Mexican government is following to respond to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada’s request to return him to Mexico is the same as the procedure to take him to the United States, according to what the Constitution indicates, but it is not due to blackmail or threats, said President Claudia Sheinbaum.

"The issue is how the process was conducted and how these requests are answered, within the framework of the law," he emphasized.

He said that to the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, as to any other Mexican, “if a letter is sent, any Mexican, there must be a response, this is established in the eighth constitutional and there are protocols and what the prosecutor's office has done comes from long before (…) It has nothing to do with a letter that was sent or not.”

The federal president denied that they are afraid that Zambada could link politicians with his criminal behavior if he is not brought to Mexico to face trials in this country, given that one must always follow “the rights of any Mexican and what the Constitution and the law say because we swore to respect it. It is not about falling into blackmail, nor falling into threats.”

Regarding “El Mayo”’s statement that if he is not returned to Mexico, the relationship with the United States will collapse, he said: “Do you think we are going to make politics or govern with that? Well, no. What we are explaining here is what is the responsibility of the Mexican State, of the Mexican government, in the face of a situation like the one that was experienced, according to what the laws and the Constitution say.”

For that reason, he said, one cannot refer to "a subjective opinion or a letter of threats, no."

Coordination with Ismael Zambada's legal defense is, he said, only with the response, also via letter, to the letter he sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He recalled that Zambada has arrest warrants in Mexico, although when the capture took place, by the United States, in the last six-year term in Mexican territory, the government stated that they did not have an operation to capture the drug trafficker.

“Because there the adversaries and the pseudo-journalists go around saying that we protect them, how, here they have arrest warrants, the issue is how things are carried out that have to be within the framework of the law, the Constitution and international relations, but here nobody protects a criminal,” he said.

He reiterated that “here he has to face his… he and other people who have committed crimes, have to face justice in Mexico or in other countries.”

Although he did not specify among whom, he said: "The prosecutor's office is reaching an agreement with... and there are protocols on how to respond, there is nothing outside the law."

The president insisted:

“Everyone has the right to consular support at all times, even when… we don’t have the death penalty and we don’t believe in it. When there is a Mexican who has it – I’m giving an example, this is not the case now – but for any Mexican, support is given to consult in case he is subjected to a trial where the resolution requested by a judge is the death penalty. But like any Mexican within the framework of the law, of the Constitution.”