The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Mexico announces a second lawsuit against the arms giants in the US

2022-10-06T00:20:32.652Z


After the rejection of a Massachusetts court, the Government of López Obrador will seek to go to trial in Arizona


File image of a semi-automatic rifle in a gun store in Utah, United States. GEORGE FREY (REUTERS)

Mexico will make a second attempt to put the main US arms manufacturers in the dock.

This was announced this Wednesday by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, in an appearance in the Senate.

The announcement comes five days after it became known that a Massachusetts judge rejected the first lawsuit filed by Mexican authorities against 11 armories.

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry has said that the new litigation is scheduled to be presented in an Arizona court next Monday.

In its first civil suit, filed in August 2021, the Latin American country accused arms producers and distributors of engaging in "negligent and illicit business practices that facilitate illegal arms trafficking to Mexico."

The Mexican government, as plaintiff, claims that around half a million weapons cross the border with the United States illegally and launched the strategy on the diplomatic front - at the negotiating table with Washington - and the legal one.

After months of deliberation, the judge handling the case said in his ruling that "the court has empathy for Mexicans," but that the court could not ignore a controversial law promoted in 2005 that shields the arms industry from evil. their use, known under the acronym PLCAA (Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act).

Ebrard explained that the second lawsuit was prepared to try to take advantage of bipartisan legislation that has just entered into force in the United States, promoted after the massacre in the Texas city of Uvalde, in which two teachers and 19 children died last May.

This new law establishes illegal arms trafficking as a federal crime and penalizes

names

or those who buy weapons that are going to be used by criminal groups.

"We are going to show that in many of these points where these products are sold, front men are operating and criminal responsibilities must begin to be established," said the Mexican official.

The secretary has added that it is clear that "the companies know where these weapons are going, it is impossible that it would be otherwise."

Ebrard, the most visible politician in the Mexican lawsuit, has said that the crimes that are going to be claimed and the strategy that is going to be followed are still being studied.

In the first attempt, Mexico tried to take the accusations to Massachusetts under the justification that many of the defendant armories were headquartered in that State and, above all, to avoid other judicial circuits with a Republican bent, where it was anticipated that the defense of the industry arms was more iron.

For this reason, one of the main surprises is that it is planned to resort to a court in Arizona, a State

a priori

more conservative.

A source close to the judicial process explains to EL PAÍS that in Arizona a large number of stores were detected that sold weapons without background checks or in breach of other requirements provided for in the law, which facilitates the flow towards organized crime groups.

In that State, he points out, these anomalies are more common than in others.

On the diplomatic side, the Foreign Minister has said that he will discuss the issue of weapons at a bilateral meeting on security next week.

In addition to the new lawsuit, Mexican authorities have confirmed that they will appeal the Massachusetts judge's ruling.

"We are going to go to another instance, we are going to appeal, we are going to claim this decision, we are going to continue with the complaint," declared the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at his press conference this Wednesday.

It remains to be seen whether Mexico's latest attempt can overcome the legal shield that protects the main US arms manufacturers.

subscribe here

to the

newsletter

of EL PAÍS México and receive all the informative keys of the current affairs of this country

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-10-06

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.