Salvador Cienfuegos hearing was virtual and lasted 6 minutes 3:38
(CNN Spanish) ––
Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda was Mexico's Secretary of Defense from December 1, 2012 to November 30, 2018. However, he joined the country's Army decades before: on January 23, 1964.
LEE: New York court accuses Salvador Cienfuegos, former secretary of Mexico, of allowing H-2 cartel operation in exchange for bribes
During his 54 years of service, he came to be considered by politicians and security analysts as one of the military with the greatest weight and influence within the Mexican Army.
Precisely, an institution that since December 2006 shares, together with the Navy and the then Federal Police and now the National Guard, the tasks of combating drug trafficking in the country.
Cienfuegos, retired General Staff Diploma Division, held important positions in the Army.
The positions of Salvador Cienfuegos in the Army
He was commander in military regions of the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco.
Also in the capital of the country, Mexico City.
Then-President Felipe Calderón appointed Cienfuegos a senior officer of the Mexican Defense Secretariat on January 16, 2012.
On December 1 of that year, the new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, appointed him commander of the Army.
He was there until the end of that management, in November 2018.
During his military career he also carried out academic activities.
He was director of the Heroico Colegio Militar and director of the Center for Studies of the Mexican Army and Air Force.
Also, commander of the Cadet Corps of the Heroic Military College.
Controversies as Secretary of Defense
During his tenure as Secretary of Defense of Mexico, two controversial events occurred that shook the country.
The first was the massacre of 22 people in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, which occurred on June 30, 2014 during a military operation.
The Defense Secretariat said at first that the soldiers had repelled an attack by armed civilians.
But in September 2014, the then Attorney General's Office (now the Attorney General's Office) reported that it would accuse three of the military personnel involved in the case of murder.
Although they were imprisoned, on May 14, 2016, a court ordered their release.
In total, seven members of the Mexican Army were accused of participating in the Tlatlaya massacre.
On October 17, 2019, a court ordered their re-apprehension.
In an interview for the Mexican newspaper El Universal, published on June 29, 2015, Salvador Cienfuegos said that what happened in Tlatlaya was "costly" for the image of the Mexican Army.
The second controversial case of Salvador Cienfuegos at the head of the Secretariat of Defense of Mexico has to do with the disappearance of 43 young normalistas from Ayotzinapa, in Iguala, Guerrero, on the night of September 26, 2014.
Some parents of the students asked that the Army, which at that time was performing security duties, be investigated.
In an interview with Televisa in October 2015, Salvador Cienfuegos said that members of the Mexican Army did not intervene in the events in Iguala.
Accusation against Salvador Cienfuegos
MIRA: The US investigated Salvador Cienfuegos since before he joined Peña Nieto's team, according to a journalist
This Friday, the court of the Eastern District of New York accused Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, Mexico's former defense secretary, of having allegedly abused his public position to help a Mexican cartel traffic thousands of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana. to the United States in exchange for bribes.
According to court documents, it would be the criminal group known as H-2, known for its participation in "widespread violence, including torture and murder."
Cienfuegos was detained this Thursday at the Los Angeles airport, under an arrest warrant issued in August 2019. He was presented in a federal court in that city on Friday, where it was determined that he will remain in US custody. a detention hearing is held on October 20 in the afternoon.
On the other hand, a New York court prosecutor asked the judge in the case to issue a permanent arrest warrant against Cienfuegos.
This is because it considers that there is a possibility that the accused may escape.
Salvador Cienfuegos
