This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/world/americas/mexico-extraditions-william-barr.html
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Under Pressure From Trump, Extraditions to U.S. From Mexico Soar | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government is on track to dramatically increase the number of extraditions of criminal suspects to the United States this year, as the Trump administration has pressured Mexico to step up its fight against organized crime. | MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government is on track to dramatically increase the number of extraditions of criminal suspects to the United States this year, as the Trump administration has pressured Mexico to step up its fight against organized crime. |
| With the first two months of this year not yet over, the government already has extradited at least 30 suspects to the United States, a sharp acceleration of extraditions from the more leisurely pace of recent years. In all of 2019, 58 suspects were extradited to the United States, according to Mexico’s attorney general’s office, with 69 sent in 2018, and 57 in 2017. | With the first two months of this year not yet over, the government already has extradited at least 30 suspects to the United States, a sharp acceleration of extraditions from the more leisurely pace of recent years. In all of 2019, 58 suspects were extradited to the United States, according to Mexico’s attorney general’s office, with 69 sent in 2018, and 57 in 2017. |
| The increased number of extraditions in the early months of 2020 comes as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, who took office in December 2018, has struggled to show gains in his government’s effort to rein in organized crime groups and the violence they sow. | The increased number of extraditions in the early months of 2020 comes as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, who took office in December 2018, has struggled to show gains in his government’s effort to rein in organized crime groups and the violence they sow. |
| “The security of the region is a shared responsibility,” Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement late Monday. “All of Mexico’s actions on security, including extraditions, comply with our current legal framework and respond to the national interest and the commitment to provide security for Mexicans.” | “The security of the region is a shared responsibility,” Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement late Monday. “All of Mexico’s actions on security, including extraditions, comply with our current legal framework and respond to the national interest and the commitment to provide security for Mexicans.” |
| Last year, Mexico recorded more than 34,500 murders, the highest tally since the government started keeping such data in the late 1990s. Corruption remains rampant and the rule of law weak. Criminals operate with near-total impunity despite a major overhaul of the judicial system. | Last year, Mexico recorded more than 34,500 murders, the highest tally since the government started keeping such data in the late 1990s. Corruption remains rampant and the rule of law weak. Criminals operate with near-total impunity despite a major overhaul of the judicial system. |
| Several recent and spectacular acts of violence have highlighted the gravity of the nation’s security situation, have cost the López Obrador administration public support and have fed concern among American officials. | Several recent and spectacular acts of violence have highlighted the gravity of the nation’s security situation, have cost the López Obrador administration public support and have fed concern among American officials. |
| In October, gunmen working for the Sinaloa Cartel paralyzed Culiacán, a major Mexican city, forcing the government to release the captured son of the imprisoned drug trafficking kingpin Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo. | In October, gunmen working for the Sinaloa Cartel paralyzed Culiacán, a major Mexican city, forcing the government to release the captured son of the imprisoned drug trafficking kingpin Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo. |
| The next month, three women and six of their children, all dual citizens of the United States and Mexico, were murdered in an ambush in northern Mexico by suspected members of a criminal group that holds sway over swaths of the northern border region. | The next month, three women and six of their children, all dual citizens of the United States and Mexico, were murdered in an ambush in northern Mexico by suspected members of a criminal group that holds sway over swaths of the northern border region. |
| After that ambush, Mr. Trump said on Twitter that the time had come “for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth.” | After that ambush, Mr. Trump said on Twitter that the time had come “for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth.” |
| Several weeks later, Mr. Trump said he planned to designate Mexican drug trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations because of the high number of Americans killed by their activities. | Several weeks later, Mr. Trump said he planned to designate Mexican drug trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations because of the high number of Americans killed by their activities. |
| Mr. Trump eventually backed off the threat after vehement pushback from Mexican officials who suggested that the designation could challenge their nation’s sovereignty and jeopardize bilateral relations. Analysts interpreted Mr. Trump’s designation threat as a way to force the Mexican government to strengthen its fight against criminal groups and the corruption that enables them. | Mr. Trump eventually backed off the threat after vehement pushback from Mexican officials who suggested that the designation could challenge their nation’s sovereignty and jeopardize bilateral relations. Analysts interpreted Mr. Trump’s designation threat as a way to force the Mexican government to strengthen its fight against criminal groups and the corruption that enables them. |
| Since making the threat, Mr. Trump has twice sent the attorney general, William P. Barr, to Mexico City for bilateral meetings with the Mexican authorities. | Since making the threat, Mr. Trump has twice sent the attorney general, William P. Barr, to Mexico City for bilateral meetings with the Mexican authorities. |
| In early December, Mr. Barr met with Mr. López Obrador, Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico’s attorney general, and other officials to discuss gang violence, immigration corruption and the trafficking of drugs, weapons and migrants. They vowed to work more closely to prosecute members of the transnational gangs that control Mexico’s illegal drug trade. | In early December, Mr. Barr met with Mr. López Obrador, Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico’s attorney general, and other officials to discuss gang violence, immigration corruption and the trafficking of drugs, weapons and migrants. They vowed to work more closely to prosecute members of the transnational gangs that control Mexico’s illegal drug trade. |
| Mr. Barr was back in Mexico City last month, focusing his meetings on bilateral efforts to fight criminal organizations as well as drug and arms trafficking. | Mr. Barr was back in Mexico City last month, focusing his meetings on bilateral efforts to fight criminal organizations as well as drug and arms trafficking. |
| Mexico appeared to speed up extraditions soon after Mr. Barr’s December visit. In the last two weeks of 2019, eight suspects were sent to face charges, followed by 30 more during the first eight weeks of 2020, according to the office of Mexico’s attorney general. | Mexico appeared to speed up extraditions soon after Mr. Barr’s December visit. In the last two weeks of 2019, eight suspects were sent to face charges, followed by 30 more during the first eight weeks of 2020, according to the office of Mexico’s attorney general. |
| American officials have grown particularly concerned with the fact that much of the illegal methamphetamine consumed in the United States is manufactured in Mexico and smuggled across the border. The Drug Enforcement Administration has increased efforts to target Mexican cartels that control major drug trafficking networks and flood the United States with meth along with other drugs. | American officials have grown particularly concerned with the fact that much of the illegal methamphetamine consumed in the United States is manufactured in Mexico and smuggled across the border. The Drug Enforcement Administration has increased efforts to target Mexican cartels that control major drug trafficking networks and flood the United States with meth along with other drugs. |
| Alejandro Hope, a security analyst based in Mexico City, said fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate, was also a growing matter of concern in United States-Mexico relations. The authorities have recently discovered large fentanyl labs in Mexico, possibly alarming American officials that Mexico could soon replace China as a source of illegally manufactured fentanyl, Mr. Hope said. | Alejandro Hope, a security analyst based in Mexico City, said fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate, was also a growing matter of concern in United States-Mexico relations. The authorities have recently discovered large fentanyl labs in Mexico, possibly alarming American officials that Mexico could soon replace China as a source of illegally manufactured fentanyl, Mr. Hope said. |
| “My guess is that they’re very worried about fentanyl, and fentanyl is driving the increasing pressure,” he said. | “My guess is that they’re very worried about fentanyl, and fentanyl is driving the increasing pressure,” he said. |
| American governments, concerned about the weaknesses of the Mexican justice system, have often pressed for the extradition of criminal suspects. Mexican officials have at times been reluctant to comply with these requests, citing national sovereignty or the desire to see the suspect prosecuted and imprisoned in Mexico. | American governments, concerned about the weaknesses of the Mexican justice system, have often pressed for the extradition of criminal suspects. Mexican officials have at times been reluctant to comply with these requests, citing national sovereignty or the desire to see the suspect prosecuted and imprisoned in Mexico. |
| After Mr. Guzmán, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured following his escape from a maximum-security prison, Mexico’s then-attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, suggested he would resist an American request for extradition. | After Mr. Guzmán, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured following his escape from a maximum-security prison, Mexico’s then-attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, suggested he would resist an American request for extradition. |
| “El Chapo must stay here to complete his sentence, and then I will extradite him,” he told The Associated Press in 2015. “So, about 300 or 400 years later — it will be a while.” | “El Chapo must stay here to complete his sentence, and then I will extradite him,” he told The Associated Press in 2015. “So, about 300 or 400 years later — it will be a while.” |
| Mr. Murillo Karam also sought to dispel concerns that Mr. Guzmán might escape a second time. That risk, he said, “does not exist.” | Mr. Murillo Karam also sought to dispel concerns that Mr. Guzmán might escape a second time. That risk, he said, “does not exist.” |
| But later that year, Mr. Guzmán escaped again, through a tunnel that led from his prison cell to freedom. | But later that year, Mr. Guzmán escaped again, through a tunnel that led from his prison cell to freedom. |
| The Sinaloa cartel boss was eventually recaptured and extradited to the United States where he was sentenced to life in prison. | The Sinaloa cartel boss was eventually recaptured and extradited to the United States where he was sentenced to life in prison. |
| Arturo Sarukhán, a former Mexican ambassador to Washington under President Felipe Calderón, said the Mexican government’s use of extradition has varied from administration to administration. During his years as ambassador, he recalled, “there was a clear determination that extradition was a key component of our strategy to confront organized crime.” | Arturo Sarukhán, a former Mexican ambassador to Washington under President Felipe Calderón, said the Mexican government’s use of extradition has varied from administration to administration. During his years as ambassador, he recalled, “there was a clear determination that extradition was a key component of our strategy to confront organized crime.” |
| In Mexico’s weak penitentiary system, Mr. Sarukhán said, criminal leaders were still able to continue running their organizations from behind bars. The Calderón administration decided to employ extradition “very muscularly” as a means of degrading the kingpins’ command and control capabilities. | In Mexico’s weak penitentiary system, Mr. Sarukhán said, criminal leaders were still able to continue running their organizations from behind bars. The Calderón administration decided to employ extradition “very muscularly” as a means of degrading the kingpins’ command and control capabilities. |
| Last week, in one of the latest extraditions, the Mexican government sent Rubén Oseguera, the son of one of the nation’s most powerful drug lords, to the United States to face drug-trafficking and firearms charges. | Last week, in one of the latest extraditions, the Mexican government sent Rubén Oseguera, the son of one of the nation’s most powerful drug lords, to the United States to face drug-trafficking and firearms charges. |
| American officials say that until his capture in 2015, Mr. Oseguera was the second-in-command of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is led by his father, Nemesio Oseguera, and is considered Mexico’s most violent criminal group. | American officials say that until his capture in 2015, Mr. Oseguera was the second-in-command of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is led by his father, Nemesio Oseguera, and is considered Mexico’s most violent criminal group. |
| Paulina Villegas contributed reporting from Mexico City and Katie Benner from Washington. | Paulina Villegas contributed reporting from Mexico City and Katie Benner from Washington. |