Emir Olivares and Alonso Urrutia
Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday March 8, 2023, p. 5
This Thursday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will receive a delegation of important US officials on security issues that will be headed by Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, in charge of the White House’s anti-fentanyl strategy.
This was reported by the president during his morning conference yesterday. We have permanent communication
he remarked when referring to the relationship with the Joe Biden administration.
The visit of the adviser from the Department of National Security tomorrow to the National Palace takes place in the midst of a crisis of deaths in the neighboring country due to the use of fentanyl. According to official figures, 71,000 Americans lost their lives in 2021 from an overdose of this opioid, considered 50 times more powerful than heroin.
At the presidential conference, when presenting the biweekly security report, the head of the National Defense Secretariat, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, reported that from February 21 to March 6 the authorities seized almost 21 kilos of fentanyl, equivalent to 21 million of dose. He added that so far in the six-year term, 6,115 kilograms of that drug have been seized.
The Secretary of the Navy, José Rafael Ojeda, was asked about the two sailors who disappeared a year ago, and he avoided going into details: I can’t tell you how we’re doing, or anything like that, because the situation is hindering
because the investigation is carried out by the FGR.
The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, reported that in the last 16 days 288 people were released, bringing the total to 5,309 thanks to the program for this purpose.
When asked about the case of the traditional Peruvian doctor Lauro Hinostroza García, arrested last September by Mexican authorities for bringing ayahuasca with him, he pointed out that they are working to free him.
In Peru, the possession of this herb is not illegal, but it is in our country, so the actions of the authorities were correct; now it is valued to reconsider his apprehension.
President López Obrador took advantage of this case to insist on the reform of the justice system. “A good Public Ministry, a good judge (could say): ‘If I have these elements here, I know that this man is a healer and that he is not a criminal, why am I not going to release him? My work has to do with papers and procedures, but I have a conviction and the main thing is that I have to be fair.’ It is a matter of common sense”.
When asked about a report on health in Mexico from the Sorbonne in Paris, the president pointed out that although it is one of the best universities in the world, “I don’t believe it very much (…) neoliberal politics greatly affected the performance of universities.” . Instead, he expressed his confidence in his officials in the sector.
