The silence of Felipe Calderón and other reactions to the conviction of Genaro García Luna | The USA Print

Until two hours ago, Felipe Calderón was very active on Twitter, commenting on current affairs and retweeting the latest news. However, since Genaro García Luna was found guilty, the former president of Mexico has taken refuge in a tremendous silence and his phone has stopped giving a signal, according to journalists from Millennium that they have tried to contact him during the morning.

The mantle of silence has spread through the political arena, reaching the Va por México alliance, which includes the National Action Party (PAN), to which he belonged and with which he came to power, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Neither its leaders, nor the heads of communication, nor the deputies or senators have dared to comment on this historic result: García Luna, former Secretary of Public Security in the government of Felipe Calderón, has been found guilty in the most important trial against a former official in USA.

Lilly Téllez, a senator for the PAN who joined the party just two years ago, was the first person from her party to react: “I am glad that the law is applied to García Luna.” She then lashed out at López Obrador, the president of Mexico: “And I say clearly and directly to AMLO and his accomplices: put your beards to soak with the García Luna case. In my government I will not wait for justice to be done in another country, here they will pay for their misdeeds, bunch of simulators”.

In addition, Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz, also a senator for the PAN, has applauded the conviction of the former secretary: “Whoever commits a crime must be punished, regardless of who it is. The jury determined that García Luna is guilty and should be sentenced. Whoever breaks the law in the United States faces consequences, I wish it was the same in Mexico as well. Enough of impunity!”

From the bench of Morena they have not stopped tweeting. Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, General Coordinator of Morena, has said: “Justice has arrived for whoever was Felipe Calderón’s squire. The crimes against our people will never be forgotten.” Mario Delgado, national leader of Morena, has demanded an explanation from Felipe Calderón about the role that García Luna played in his government and his link to organized crime.

The morenista asked the Attorney General of the Republic to investigate whether there are elements to investigate the former president. “I don’t know if this can lead to investigations in Mexico, but Calderón cannot go unpunished,” he warned at a press conference. “They found him guilty and the obligatory question is: does Calderón continue with his theory that he knew nothing? Do we still believe Calderón? ”, He questioned.

Ken Salazar, the United States ambassador to Mexico, has declared that “today’s unanimous verdict shows the unwavering commitment of the United States to defend democracy and have zero tolerance for corruption. He shows that our pursuit of justice is stronger than the attempts of criminals to take away from people the good government they deserve”.

The Mexican justice system, thirty minutes after the verdict against García Luna, has released the money to his wife, Linda Cristina Pereyra Gálvez. The funds had been blocked by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) when the trial began, “as a precautionary measure so that he could not make financial movements while the criminal procedure is resolved.” Pereyra was “an integral part of the money laundering plot headed by García Luna,” says the UIF.

The ruling that unlocks Pereyra’s money, allegedly obtained illegally and as a result of her husband’s illegal operations, has been resolved unanimously by the three judges in charge of the case. Pereyra is denounced before the FGR for the crime of operations with resources of illicit origin here in Mexico, and in the United States she is sued in Florida with the aim that “Mexico can recover 745 million dollars” that were allegedly stolen from the Mexican treasury and moved to Miami.

Mexican journalists and columnists have launched into commenting on the outcome of the trial against the former Secretary of Public Security. Denise Dresser, a Mexican political scientist, commented on the matter: “The Genaro García Luna verdict places Felipe Calderón in serious trouble. Either he knew and was complicit, or he didn’t know and was incompetent. But both are guilty of unleashing/engendering war, violence, militarization, and the narco-State that we suffer today.”

Anabel Hernandez, in Millennium, has said from New York, where he is witnessing the trial: “Today was a very moving day for me, I thought that justice was never going to come. I would have liked it to have been in a court in Mexico, but to have seen a sentence of this type with my own eyes and to think of all the journalists like me who have had to flee violence to do our job.”

Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, General Coordinator of Morena, has said: “Justice has arrived for whoever was Felipe Calderón’s squire. The crimes against our people will never be forgotten.” Alejandro Encinas, current undersecretary for Human Rights, Population and Migration, has declared: “Former security secretary Genaro García Luna is found guilty of five crimes in the US. An exercise in truth that demonstrates the links of a high-level official with organized crime in a context of widespread human rights violations.”

In the Chamber of Deputies, the PAN members have abandoned the chamber as soon as the verdict against García Luna has come out. Manuel Vázquez Arellano, in a humorous tone, has called for a minute of silence “for the death of the PAN”.

Andrea Chávez, deputy for Morena in Congress, also referred to the absence of PAN politicians from the Chamber. “Today history agrees with those of us in Ciudad Juárez who suffer the consequences of having a drug trafficker in charge of the Ministry of Public Security. Today his party was exposed for having positioned, maintained and protected a drug trafficker. May the warlords never find peace.”

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