President Claudia Sheinbaum affirmed her opposition to the death penalty, regardless of the crime, after the US Attorney’s Office announced it would not seek this sentence against Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who are in Washington custody and facing pending drug trafficking charges.
At the morning press conference at the National Palace, the mayor explained that the extradition treaty between Mexico and the United States stipulates that there can be no death penalty for Mexican nationals extradited to the United States at the request of US authorities.
“We are against the death penalty, regardless of the crime. It’s not something we agree with. So, in any case, the absence of the death penalty is part of Mexican policy; it’s not a personal matter. All extradition treaties, for example, when a suspected or convicted criminal is extradited, establish reciprocity, meaning that there can be no death penalty. So, when they are extradited, there is no death penalty,” she explained.
From the Treasury Room, the head of the federal executive branch detailed that in deportations and other legal processes, reciprocity with Mexican law is also sought.
“It has nothing to do with the individual or the person or the criminal, but rather with the fact that we do not agree with the death penalty,” she clarified. Sheinbaum Pardo added that the Mexican government did not participate in the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s decisions regarding the three drug lords, and stated that she is unaware of any agreements Washington has made with Zambada, Caro Quintero, and Carrillo Fuentes.
“We don’t participate in these decisions; it’s a decision of the U.S. government. We have no information that would lead to any kind of agreement; we have no information. Furthermore, these are decisions made by the U.S. government. We don’t know what agreement they have with this person. None of us here know what agreement exists because it’s not public. We don’t know if they’re going to release him, for example; we don’t know. So, there are extradition agreements, and we will always act in accordance with anything that benefits our people,” she said.
US ‘spares’ the lives of three Mexican drug lords
In three separate letters sent to the judges presiding over each case—opened in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, based in Brooklyn—prosecutor Joseph Nocella explained that the order came directly from the Department of Justice and its head, Pam Bondi.
