Cooperation with Mexico on security “continues very well,” says Ken Salazar

Fernando Camacho Servin

The newspaper La Jornada
Saturday, August 17, 2024, p. 4

The hearings before the United States authorities of the alleged drug traffickers Ismael The May Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of Joaquin El Chapo Guzmán, will take place next month, reported the ambassador of that country in Mexico, Ken Salazar, who assured that both nations maintain very good cooperation on security issues.

“I can share with you that The May will have his hearing on September 9 in a court in the state of Texas, (while) Joaquín Guzmán will have his on September 30 in Chicago,” the diplomat said yesterday at a press conference.

Salazar reiterated the statements he made a week earlier regarding Guzmán López’s voluntary surrender in the United States, The May arrived against his will and Washington did not use its own resources in the capture. He also stressed that his country has shared all the information of the case with the Mexican authorities.

Asked whether bilateral security cooperation has stopped, he said that this aspect It is going very well. We are working with the Attorney General’s Office. What was said in some press conferences, that cooperation had stopped, is false. We have very good cooperation and that will surely continue with the new government of the elected president (Claudia) Sheinbaum. That is my hope..

On the other hand, when referring to the reform of the Judicial Branch that will be analyzed in the next few days in Congress, Salazar affirmed that it is a decision that Mexicans must make, but expressed his concern regarding the models of popular election of judges, such as the one in force in the state of Texas.

There There is direct election (of judges), where judges go out to campaign, to raise money, to be politicians in their effort to get to the courts. That system for me (…) does not seem to me to be a good model.he said without explaining the reasons for his skepticism.

When pressed on the subject, Salazar reiterated: “My fear is the example I see in Texas, where judges are elected in that state, because there they have to go out and campaign, raise funds and all that.”

The US ambassador said it would be positive to also consider models such as those in Utah and Colorado, where there is a retention model through which a commission proposes a list of three judges for the head of the Executive to appoint, and after a period of two years, they are evaluated to determine whether they continue to occupy their position or not.

Salazar stressed that his country is not in a position to tell you what to do to the Mexican Congress on the subject, but put on the table aspects such as defining limited times for judges and magistrates to make decisions on sensitive issues.

The above, he indicated, would prevent cases such as the extradition request of the brothers Omar Treviño Morales, known as Z-42and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, the Z-40.