“It is an extortion of a US citizen by a foreign power”: the case of Alejandra Cuevas resonates in the government of Joe Biden

Although after 528 days in prison for a crime that does not even exist, on March 28 Alejandra Cuevas (Mexico City, 69 years old) was finally released, her case seems to have several loose ends. She was accused by the Attorney General of Justice, Alejandro Gertz Manero. Now, the son of this woman, Alonso Castillo, as a US citizen, seeks to bring to the ears of the US authority the persecution by the Mexican official of which he and his family were victims.

“Let them listen to how the prosecutor demanded that I incriminate me with a fabricated crime,” Alonso told Infobae. His intention is to make it known and denounce to the US authorities that, as a citizen of that country, he and his family were persecuted by foreign authorities. He already told US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas last Wednesday, with whom he managed to meet for a moment in Florida.

He is now seeking to meet with the US senators who a few days ago warned the Biden government about how to bring justice to Alejandro Gertz Manero. Alonso sent them a letter in which he emphasized that it was “an extortion of a U.S. citizen by a foreign power”.

His mother's case already resonates with Joe Biden's government. Last week it was taken as an argument by senators from that country who sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Prosecutor Merrick Garland to warn of the attacks they believe Gertz Manero is carrying out against Mexican justice, in order to carry out “personal vengeance.”

It should be recalled that the prosecutor's case against Alejandra Cuevas at all times was merely a personal matter. She is the daughter of Laura Morán (95 years old, Mexico City) who was the romantic partner of Federico Gertz Manero, the official's brother, for almost half a century until 2015 when he died of his deteriorating state of health. Alejandro accused Laura of homicide for omission of care, as guarantor, that is, who was in charge of care. He also included in his lawsuit Alejandra, as an “accessory guarantor”, a figure that the same Supreme Court has just considered simply non-existent.

For years, the lawsuit against both women simply did not proceed as the judges considered it inappropriate. Once Gertz Manero assumed the highest post of justice in Mexico, the charges — among a myriad of irregularities — proceeded and led, for a crime that does not exist, Alejandra Cuevas to be locked up in Santa Martha Acatitla from October 2020 until March 28.

Officials also warned that the Mexican justice system itself is “weakened and politicized”, focusing specifically on the actions of the prosecutor who, they warned , uses its power to “selectively pursue opponents of the current administration”.

US senators called on President Joe Biden's government to express its concerns directly to its Mexican counterpart. Among the complainants who signed the document are Senator Robert Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Patrick Leahy, chair of the Appropriations Committee; and legislators Benjamin Cardin and Jeffrey Merkley.

However, the Mexican president spoke out in defense of his prosecutor and said that the US senators who drafted the letter “are, with all due respect, liars,” assuring that the US Democrats' approaches are due to the fact that there are interests involved, “in the United States there are elections.”

“I can only say that they are wrong, uninformed,” the president insisted, responding to them “we do not accept interference; we do not act by slogan against anyone”.

Meanwhile, Alonso Castillo assured that he will not stop with the case of his mother Alejandra. “I'm not going to stop until I get appointments with the senators, Blinken and Merrick Garland.”

KEEP READING: