La Derecha Diario Gertz Manero comes out to defend Salvador Cienfuegos
The general was present at the loyalty event and caused quite a bit of controversy.
During the March of Loyalty, Claudia Sheinbaum was joined by various political and military figures. However, the presence of General Salvador Cienfuegos drew attention.
This caused controversy, since in the previous administration, Cienfuegos was detained and later released in the United States.
Gertz Manero defends Cienfuegos
Amid the criticism, the Attorney General of the Republic, Alejandro Gertz Manero, assured that there is no evidence linking Cienfuegos to organized crime.
"The accusation that had been made in the United States against General Cienfuegos was a catalog of falsehoods. We decided not to pursue criminal action because the accusations were so false and lacked any evidence."
The contradictions of the Cienfuegos case
The statements of Attorney General Gertz Manero have been questioned, as there was indeed a formal investigation into Cienfuegos with documented evidence in the past.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) published the complete case file. This document includes a letter sent by the United States Department of Justice.
The DEA and the investigation against Cienfuegos
The letter mentions that the DEA's investigation did not initially target Cienfuegos. However, in the course of other inquiries, information was obtained that linked him.
"The DEA discovered information reflecting his criminal activity during the course of some highly relevant independent investigations, and in the end, evidence was obtained that led to the accusation presented against him (Cienfuegos). In this investigation, the DEA never directly targeted any Mexican government official."
The evidence in the file
The file includes intercepted conversations from a BlackBerry in which an individual with the aliases "Zepeda" or "El Padrino" is mentioned, names attributed to Salvador Cienfuegos.
At the time, the office of Attorney General William Barr indicated that the evidence against Cienfuegos was solid. However, the U.S. government decided to withdraw the charges to avoid a diplomatic conflict with Mexico.
After his return to Mexico, the investigation was left in the hands of the Attorney General's Office (FGR), which chose not to prosecute him.
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