Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Wednesday that his administration would consider a request by convicted drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to complete his sentence in Mexico.
The former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, who has remained in U.S. custody at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado since 2019, has demanded attention from the Mexican government over the conditions he is subjected to in the US.
"I ask President Lopez Obrador to intervene so I can return to Mexico and finish my sentence in a Mexican prison. The conditions in which I find myself in a maximum security prison in the United States are degrading, infamous and inhumane," said Guzman in a letter.
Guzman, who has escaped from Mexican maximum security prisons on two occasions, was found guilty of all charges in February 2019 by a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, including being the leader of a continuing criminal enterprise, multiple drug trafficking-related charges, violence, corruption and money laundering.
"El Chapo" was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 under the instructions of then-Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. According to Jose Refugio Rodriguez, Guzman's attorney, the extradition was due to an illegitimate pact between Pena Nieto's administration and the U.S. government.
Rodriguez has reached out to Mexico's U.S. Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragan to intercede, alleging that Guzman was extradited to the United States in violation of his rights and accusing then-Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray of acting "submissively" to the US.
Guzman's lawyer insisted that there is a legal way for 'El Chapo' to return to Mexico, noting that the extradition treaty allows the former drug kingpin to return to his home country since Guzman has criminal proceedings pending in Mexico.
"Once extradition was granted, (Guzman) should have remained in Mexico until all his proceedings here were completed by a sentence and then turned over," said Rodriguez.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard quickly dismissed the request.
"I don't see any possibilities, frankly, but I will check with the prosecutor's office," he said.
However, Lopez Obrador said at his daily press conference that he would look into Guzman's case.
"When it comes to human rights, there are international channels and instances. So we can't rule this out because the main human right is the right to life. We have to see if this can go forward or not, if we have…the possibility, the power to do so," he said.
