Case Against Genaro García Luna / 2023 Income Law Approval

Case against Genaro García Luna. President López Obrador insisted that the trial against former Minister of Security Genaro García Luna has been going on for too long. Moreover, he said that there is a lot of evidence against the former Minister and accused the former government of not acting impartially and honestly.

García Luna is accused of exercising violence and manipulating witnesses, especially journalists, who spoke out against him. According to the US Attorney’s Office, there is a recording of García Luna in which he speaks with Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, former head of the Sinaloa Cartel in 2020, about some of the repressive actions he carried out when he was minister. Since 2019, Garcia Luna has been held at a US prison and is being accused of receiving millions of dollars in bribery so that the Sinaloa cartel could operate freely in Mexico.

Legislators approve 2023 Income Law. President López Obrador thanked legislators for approving the 2023 Income Law. Legislators endorsed the proposal with 65 votes in favor, 44 against and two abstentions. The project estimates 3 percent GDP growth for next year, an exchange rate of MX$20.6 per US dollar and a crude production platform with a weighted average price of US$68.7/b of exported crude. It also authorizes the Executive Power to access a net external debt of up to US$5.5 billion. The document does not mention new taxes nor increases to existing ones. 

Ayotzinapa case. President López Obrador detailed that the 21 arrest warrants canceled by Mexico’s Attorney General (FGR) could be reactivated if the necessary evidence is presented. Last month, FGR canceled 21 arrest warrants against former officials allegedly involved in the disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero. According to El País, from the original 83 arrest warrants concerning this case, the Attorney General has only processed four. Of the 21 cancelled warrants, 16 correspond to military personnel accused of organized crime. The other five canceled warrants were against Guerrero’s former Attorney General, Iñaki Blanco, Judge Ulises Bernabé and three officials from the state’s judicial power.

In 2014, during former President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration, 43 students disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero. The government reported they were murdered by the United Warriors Cartel in Cocula and, according to the past administration, it was the Iguala police who handed over the students to the criminal group. Nevertheless, since the reopening of the case, new findings incriminating Peña Nieto’s government are popping up.