11/18/2020 8:50 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 11/18/2020 8:50 AM
The US government surprisingly announced that it is withdrawing the drug trafficking charges against former Mexican Defense Minister
Salvador Cienfuegos
to be investigated in his country.
The decision concludes an intense secret negotiation between the two countries.
Specifically, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it will drop the drug trafficking
and money laundering
charges
against Salvador Cienfuegos, in an unprecedented decision that the Mexican government
praised
and that some analysts are beginning to interpret as a "gift." 'from the government of Donald Trump to his neighbor to the south for not recognizing the triumph of Democrat Joe Biden.
According to the surprise announcement of the US Department of Justice, the decision would have been adopted "in recognition of the strong cooperation in the application of the law between both countries and the interest in showing a united front against all forms of crime."
Salvador Cienfuegos in an image from 2016. Photo: AFP
Thus culminates an intense secret negotiation between the Mexican and US governments.
This Wednesday the hearing is scheduled before Judge Carol Amon, in which it is expected that the magistrate
will sign the order.
Cienfuegos
was detained since October 15
in Los Angeles, California, and was later transferred to New York, where the indictment for drug trafficking and money laundering charges lies.
The Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard,
applauded the
US
decision,
calling it an "act of sympathy and respect for Mexico and its armed forces."
To reach this agreement, Mexico argued that if the alleged crimes were committed in this country, the retired officer should also be processed in Mexican territory.
The Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, applauded the decision.
Photo: EFE
The Brooklyn prosecutor's office accused Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, head of the Secretary of National Defense during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto, of
four crimes
of drug trafficking and money laundering for helping the
H-2 cartel
to traffic tons of cocaine, heroin, amphetamines and marijuana to the United States between 2015 and 2017 in exchange for millionaire bribes.
In case of having been tried and found guilty in the United States, the former minister faced
a sentence of ten years in prison
up to life imprisonment.
AP AND RFI
ap
Look also
Accused of being a drug lord, the former defense minister of Mexico, "The Godfather" Cienfuegos, pleaded not guilty in the United States
The militarization of Latin American politics
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