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The question that gives this text its title is still under debate before public opinion in Mexico, after a jury of 12 people found Genaro García Luna, former Mexican Secretary of Public Security, guilty of drug trafficking.
The former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, was mentioned in the García Luna trial, since he had allegedly given some indication about protecting leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.
On February 7, when testifying against García Luna, the former prosecutor of Nayarit, Mexico, Édgar Veytia, implicated former President Calderón in the protection orders for Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera.
Veytia, also known as “El Diablo”, affirmed that his then boss, former governor Ney González and his nephew had met in Mexico City with Calderón and García Luna, who had told him that “El Chapo” should be protected. and their partners in the Sinaloa Cartel, not the Beltrán Leyva Organization.
“That the line was El Chapo,” Veytia stated concisely.
It was the only time that the former Mexican president was directly targeted in García Luna’s conspiracy to protect certain criminal groups and contribute to a war between them, according to testimonies from other witnesses, such as Sergio Villarreal Barragán, alias “El Grande”.
New York prosecutors did not answer whether there would be an investigation into former President Calderón, but investigations of this type – and especially contemplating a figure of this political level – are not revealed until they are advanced or the person has been arrested.
Such was the case of García Luna whose name emerged in 2018 in the trial of “El Chapo” Guzmán, when Jesús “El Rey” Zambada said that he gave him up to $5 million as part of the bribes to protect the Sinaloa Cartel.
Almost two years later, the former Mexican Secretary of Public Security was arrested in Dallas, Texas, then sent to New York in 2020 to face a trial where “El Rey” Zambada was one of the cooperating witnesses.
Calderón has rejected the accusations of any pact with criminals.
“I never negotiated or agreed with criminals. I never used the presidential inauguration to advocate for their interests“, assured Calderón after the verdict against García Luna, found guilty of five crimes, four of which for leading a criminal organization for a long period and conspiring to traffic cocaine.
A survey published by the newspaper El País revealed that 84% of Mexicans believe that former President Calderón should be investigated.
Prosecutors in the US have filed charges with high-ranking Latin American officials, including on September 18 the trial of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, accused of drug trafficking.