U.S. agrees to drop charges against former Mexican defense minister
MEXICO CITY — Weeks after arresting Mexico’s former defense minister on drug trafficking charges, the United States has agreed to return Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda to Mexico, backing down from incendiary charges that sent a shock through U.S.-Mexico relations.
The extraordinary decision to release Cienfuegos after a long-term, top-secret U.S. investigation allegedly revealed his ties to Mexico’s criminal underworld is a remarkable twist in one of the highest-profile drug trafficking cases in recent history. U.S. Department of Justice officials depicted Cienfuegos’ arrest as a window into dramatic institutional corruption in Mexico, but Mexican officials have not committed to trying him upon his return.
The decision is sure to be greeted as a triumph in Mexico, where the government treated Cienfuegos’ arrest as a violation of sovereignty. But it raises major questions about the trade-off between U.S. investigations into Mexican drug trafficking and attempts to maintain a delicate bilateral relationship.
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“In recognition of the strong law enforcement partnership between Mexico and the United States, and in the interests of demonstrating our united front against all forms of criminality, the United States Department of Justice has made the decision to seek dismissal of the U.S. criminal charges against former Secretary Cienfuegos, so that he may be investigated and, if appropriate, charged, under Mexican law,” Attorney General William P. Barr and Alejandro Gertz Manero, his Mexican counterpart, said in a release.
Cienfuegos was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 15. Prosecutors said he had been aiding a drug cartel when he was defense secretary from 2012 to 2018. The charges are expected to be dropped by a U.S. federal judge on Wednesday morning; Cienfuegos will then be flown back to Mexico.
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“At the request of the Fiscalía General de la República, the United States Department of Justice, under the Treaty that governs the sharing of evidence, has provided Mexico evidence in this case and commits to continued cooperation, within that framework, to support the investigation by Mexican authorities,” Barr and Gertz Manero said.
The decision appeared to be an attempt to repair a growing breach in relations over Cienfuegos’ arrest. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador initially accepted the news of the indictment by telling a news conference he would investigate any corruption in the military. But public opinion swung rapidly to Cienfuegos’ side, with many senior officials and politicians questioning the strength of the evidence against a man not widely regarded as corrupt. Instead of blaming him, many accused the DEA of violating Mexican sovereignty through its investigation.
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López Obrador quickly adopted a more skeptical tone. He has relied heavily on the military for a wide range of tasks, from fighting drug trafficking to building hospitals. The military is one of Mexico’s most popular and respected institutions, even though drug groups have corrupted some officers.
As the clamor over the case grew, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had suggested Mexico might impose limits on the ability of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to operate in Mexico. “There will be cooperation” with the U.S. government, he told the newsmagazine Proceso last month. “But it will have to be on another basis.”
Barr and Gertz Manero seemed to aim for a tone of unity after the division caused by Cienfuegos’ arrest.
“Our two countries remain committed to cooperation on this matter, as well as all our bilateral law enforcement cooperation,” they said in the statement “As the decision today reflects, we are stronger when we work together and respect the sovereignty of our nations and their institutions. This close partnership increases the security of the citizens of both our countries.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexico-cienfuegos-drug-charges-dropped/2020/11/17/430bd056-291f-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html