Latest news with #Delgado
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
She defended drug lord El Chapo - now, she's running for office
As drivers sit in traffic near the Bridge of the Americas connecting Mexico with the USA, Silvia Delgado weaves between the cars handing out leaflets. "I'm standing for penal judge," she says brightly. "Vote for number 12 on the ballot papers!" Most happily wind down their windows and accept a flyer from her. But in Sunday's rather unique election – the first of two votes by which Mexicans will choose the country's entire judiciary by direct ballot – Silvia Delgado is not an ordinary candidate. Conspicuously absent from the short biography on her pamphlets is the name of her best-known client: she was the defence lawyer for the notorious drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán. Her critics say her past defending the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel should disqualify her from standing as a judge. She gives that idea short shrift. "Why should it? For doing my job?" she retorts, her heckles immediately raised at any suggestion of a conflict of interest. "For defending people's individual guarantees? For mounting an adequate technical defence for a human being? Why should that make me illegitimate?" she asks. Silvia Delgado has not been convicted of any crime, is not facing any charges and is not under investigation – whether over her links to El Chapo or anything else. But a leading human rights and transparency organisation in Mexico called Defensorxs has included her in a list of 19 "high risk candidates" in the election. As well as Ms Delgado, the list includes a candidate with a drug trafficking conviction and another facing accusations of orchestrating violence against journalists. The director of Defensorxs, Miguel Alfonso Meza, believes the so-called "high risk candidates" are a danger to the legitimacy of Mexico's justice system: "Someone that has already worked with a cartel, it is very difficult that they get out, even if it was only as a lawyer. It's not even about whether she's a good person or a bad person," says Mr Meza, referring to Silvia Delgado. "The Sinaloa Cartel is not only 'El Chapo' Guzman. It is a company that has criminal and economic interests which are being resolved in the justice system. The cartel could pressure her to show loyalty because she has already been their employee." Silvia Delgado visibly stiffens at the mention of Defensorxs and Miguel Alfonso Meza. "It's completely stupid," she bristles, claiming she has challenged them to "dig into her past as much as they like". She also dismisses their main accusation that she was paid with drug money and could be compromised if she is elected judge. "How can you prove that? I received a payment which was the same as any normal monthly payment which was paid to me by lawyers, members of his legal team. I'm not his daughter or his sister or anything. I'm a professional." Ms Delgado is competing for one of more than 7,500 judicial position up for grabs – from local magistrates to all nine Supreme Court justices. While it was under discussion, the judicial reform prompted widespread protests by law students and a strike by workers in the legal system. Its critics maintain that electing every judge in Mexico amounts to the politicisation of the country's justice system. "Of course, it's a political attack [on the judiciary]," says Miguel Alfonso Meza. "Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador didn't like to have constraints from the judicial power. When the pressure became too great and the constraints too tight, the only solution they found was to remove all the judges in the country," he adds. This reform was passed before President Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in, but she is a firm supporter of it and polls suggest it has broad approval among the electorate too. Supporters point out that the United States, Switzerland and Bolivia elect many of their judges. But Mexico will become the first country in the world to elect all of them. Markets remain unconvinced with investors fearful of the prospect of the ruling party controlling the presidency, the legislative branch and the judiciary. Miguel Alfonso Meza believes that problems will arise from "the agreements and negotiations judges have to make with political actors… in order to get the support they need to win the elections". One of the 64 candidates seeking a seat on the Supreme Court is Olivia Aguirre Bonilla. Also from Ciudad Juárez, her legal background is in human rights law and as an activist against gender-based violence in the notoriously dangerous border city. Like all the candidates, Ms Aguirre Bonilla has had to pay for her campaign out of her own pocket – candidates are banned from accepting public or private funding and forbidden from purchasing advertising spots. As such, she's primarily used social media to push out her 6-point plan from clamping down on exorbitant salaries to opening the Supreme Court hearings to the public. While she acknowledges the criticisms over the potential politicisation of Mexico's justice system, Aguirre Bonilla believes the vote is an opportunity for meaningful change of a collapsed, corrupted and nepotistic judiciary. "I think all the citizens in Mexico are politicised, and we're all part of public life," she says. "The difference here is that our 'untouchable' legal system – and it was untouchable because it was controlled by the elites, by privilege – for the first time in history will be voted in. It will be democratised through the popular vote." Many people in the judiciary were there through influence and familial connections, Aguirre Bonilla argues, and it lacks the legitimacy of the executive and legislative branches. "This vote will grant the justice system true independence as it's not chosen by the President of the Republic but elected by the people of Mexico to represent them." So far, the arguments over constitutionality and legitimacy, over the process and the candidates have been bitter and fierce. Now all eyes turn to the polling stations, particularly on the turnout and abstention rates as indicators of Mexicans' backing for the reform. As for Silvia Delgado, the woman who defended Mexico's most wanted drug lord, she just hopes the people of Ciudad Juárez will respect her work enough to allow her to sit in judgement of other criminals who are brought before her. 'Severe blow' to Sinaloa cartel as security chief of El Chapo's son arrested Murder, drugs and football on the Mexican border Five musicians murdered in suspected Mexican cartel killing
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Chapo's ex-lawyer among Mexico's 'high-risk' aspiring judges
In a crime-plagued Mexican border city, lawyer Silvia Delgado urges passersby to vote for her as a judge, despite her past work for one of the world's most notorious drug lords. Her candidacy is one of the most controversial in elections beginning on Sunday that will make Mexico the world's only country to choose all of its judges and magistrates by popular vote. But Delgado is not the only contender whose suitability to dispense justice has been called into question. Other hopefuls include a man who was imprisoned in the United States for drug crimes, even though those taking part are supposed to have no criminal record. Candidates must have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed "a good reputation." But that did not prevent a former prosecutor accused of threatening two journalists who were later murdered from getting his name on the ballot. Delgado, 51, was a member of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's legal team in Ciudad Juarez, where the Sinaloa cartel co-founder was detained before being extradited to the United States in 2017. "I've defended many people," she told AFP in an interview, saying that having assisted Guzman in his hearings did not make her a criminal. "Every person has the right to counsel," she said, talking up her experience to voters. "You're going to have an impartial and knowledgeable judge," she told a street vendor near a border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. - 'The most imperfect' - Delgado is one of around 20 candidates identified by rights group Defensorxs as "high-risk" for reasons including allegations of cartel links, corruption and sexual abuse. Defensorxs describes Delgado as someone who "defends alleged drug traffickers." It is a sensitive issue in Mexico, where criminal violence has claimed more than 480,000 lives since 2006 and left around 120,000 people missing. A violent split in the Sinaloa cartel -- one of several Mexican drug trafficking groups that have been designated terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump -- has resulted in 1,200 deaths since September. Also on the Defensorxs list is Leopoldo Chavez, an aspiring federal judge in the northern state of Durango. He was imprisoned for almost six years in the United States between 2015 and 2021 for methamphetamine trafficking. "I've never sold myself to you as the perfect candidate," he said in a video posted on social media. "I'm the most imperfect, but the one who most wants to get this done. Fernando Escamilla, who is standing to be a judge in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, was a lawyer for Miguel Angel Trevino, a former leaders of Los Zetas, a cartel known for its brutality. - '0.01 percent' - In the western state of Michoacan, candidate Francisco Herrera is accused by the press of having threatened journalists Roberto Toledo and Armando Linares, who were murdered in 2022. He denies any involvement. In neighboring Jalisco state, Job Daniel Wong is a minister of the Mexican mega-church La Luz Del Mundo, whose leader Naason Joaquin Garcia was convicted in the United States of sexual abusing minors. President Claudia Sheinbaum has downplayed the importance of the controversial candidacies, saying "it's 0.01 percent" of all those standing. Her ruling party promoted the elections, which it says are needed to combat corruption and impunity. Critics say criminal groups who regularly use violence, threats and bribery will seek to increase their influence over the courts by meddling in the vote. The ruling party's Senate leader, Gerardo Fernandez Norona, has said that lawyers who represented drug traffickers "should not participate." The electoral authority will only assess the validity of their candidacies after the elections. Defensorxs director Miguel Alfonso Meza blames the situation on the haste with which the constitutional reform was passed and the lack of rigor in vetting candidacies. "It's impressive that to be a municipal traffic officer you have to take an exam, but to be a criminal judge who resolves cases involving a cartel, all you have to do is send your resume," he said. yug/axm/dr/bgs
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Chapo's ex-lawyer among Mexico's 'high-risk' aspiring judges
Her candidacy is one of the most controversial in elections beginning on Sunday that will make Mexico the world's only country to choose all of its judges and magistrates by popular vote. But Delgado is not the only contender whose suitability to dispense justice has been called into question. Other hopefuls include a man who was imprisoned in the United States for drug crimes, even though those taking part are supposed to have no criminal record. Candidates must have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed "a good reputation." But that did not prevent a former prosecutor accused of threatening two journalists who were later murdered from getting his name on the ballot. Delgado, 51, was a member of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's legal team in Ciudad Juarez, where the Sinaloa cartel co-founder was detained before being extradited to the United States in 2017. "I've defended many people," she told AFP in an interview, saying that having assisted Guzman in his hearings did not make her a criminal. "Every person has the right to counsel," she said, talking up her experience to voters. "You're going to have an impartial and knowledgeable judge," she told a street vendor near a border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. 'The most imperfect' Delgado is one of around 20 candidates identified by rights group Defensorxs as "high-risk" for reasons including allegations of cartel links, corruption and sexual abuse. Defensorxs describes Delgado as someone who "defends alleged drug traffickers." It is a sensitive issue in Mexico, where criminal violence has claimed more than 480,000 lives since 2006 and left around 120,000 people missing. A violent split in the Sinaloa cartel -- one of several Mexican drug trafficking groups that have been designated terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump -- has resulted in 1,200 deaths since September. Also on the Defensorxs list is Leopoldo Chavez, an aspiring federal judge in the northern state of Durango. He was imprisoned for almost six years in the United States between 2015 and 2021 for methamphetamine trafficking. "I've never sold myself to you as the perfect candidate," he said in a video posted on social media. "I'm the most imperfect, but the one who most wants to get this done. Fernando Escamilla, who is standing to be a judge in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, was a lawyer for Miguel Angel Trevino, a former leaders of Los Zetas, a cartel known for its brutality. '0.01 percent' In the western state of Michoacan, candidate Francisco Herrera is accused by the press of having threatened journalists Roberto Toledo and Armando Linares, who were murdered in 2022. He denies any involvement. In neighboring Jalisco state, Job Daniel Wong is a minister of the Mexican mega-church La Luz Del Mundo, whose leader Naason Joaquin Garcia was convicted in the United States of sexual abusing minors. President Claudia Sheinbaum has downplayed the importance of the controversial candidacies, saying "it's 0.01 percent" of all those standing. Her ruling party promoted the elections, which it says are needed to combat corruption and impunity. Critics say criminal groups who regularly use violence, threats and bribery will seek to increase their influence over the courts by meddling in the vote. The ruling party's Senate leader, Gerardo Fernandez Norona, has said that lawyers who represented drug traffickers "should not participate." The electoral authority will only assess the validity of their candidacies after the elections. Defensorxs director Miguel Alfonso Meza blames the situation on the haste with which the constitutional reform was passed and the lack of rigor in vetting candidacies. "It's impressive that to be a municipal traffic officer you have to take an exam, but to be a criminal judge who resolves cases involving a cartel, all you have to do is send your resume," he said.
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Chapo's Ex-lawyer Among Mexico's 'High-risk' Aspiring Judges
In a crime-plagued Mexican border city, lawyer Silvia Delgado urges passersby to vote for her as a judge, despite her past work for one of the world's most notorious drug lords. Her candidacy is one of the most controversial in elections beginning on Sunday that will make Mexico the world's only country to choose all of its judges and magistrates by popular vote. But Delgado is not the only contender whose suitability to dispense justice has been called into question. Other hopefuls include a man who was imprisoned in the United States for drug crimes, even though those taking part are supposed to have no criminal record. Candidates must have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed "a good reputation." But that did not prevent a former prosecutor accused of threatening two journalists who were later murdered from getting his name on the ballot. Delgado, 51, was a member of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's legal team in Ciudad Juarez, where the Sinaloa cartel co-founder was detained before being extradited to the United States in 2017. "I've defended many people," she told AFP in an interview, saying that having assisted Guzman in his hearings did not make her a criminal. "Every person has the right to counsel," she said, talking up her experience to voters. "You're going to have an impartial and knowledgeable judge," she told a street vendor near a border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. Delgado is one of around 20 candidates identified by rights group Defensorxs as "high-risk" for reasons including allegations of cartel links, corruption and sexual abuse. Defensorxs describes Delgado as someone who "defends alleged drug traffickers." It is a sensitive issue in Mexico, where criminal violence has claimed more than 480,000 lives since 2006 and left around 120,000 people missing. A violent split in the Sinaloa cartel -- one of several Mexican drug trafficking groups that have been designated terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump -- has resulted in 1,200 deaths since September. Also on the Defensorxs list is Leopoldo Chavez, an aspiring federal judge in the northern state of Durango. He was imprisoned for almost six years in the United States between 2015 and 2021 for methamphetamine trafficking. "I've never sold myself to you as the perfect candidate," he said in a video posted on social media. "I'm the most imperfect, but the one who most wants to get this done. Fernando Escamilla, who is standing to be a judge in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, was a lawyer for Miguel Angel Trevino, a former leaders of Los Zetas, a cartel known for its brutality. In the western state of Michoacan, candidate Francisco Herrera is accused by the press of having threatened journalists Roberto Toledo and Armando Linares, who were murdered in 2022. He denies any involvement. In neighboring Jalisco state, Job Daniel Wong is a minister of the Mexican mega-church La Luz Del Mundo, whose leader Naason Joaquin Garcia was convicted in the United States of sexual abusing minors. President Claudia Sheinbaum has downplayed the importance of the controversial candidacies, saying "it's 0.01 percent" of all those standing. Her ruling party promoted the elections, which it says are needed to combat corruption and impunity. Critics say criminal groups who regularly use violence, threats and bribery will seek to increase their influence over the courts by meddling in the vote. The ruling party's Senate leader, Gerardo Fernandez Norona, has said that lawyers who represented drug traffickers "should not participate." The electoral authority will only assess the validity of their candidacies after the elections. Defensorxs director Miguel Alfonso Meza blames the situation on the haste with which the constitutional reform was passed and the lack of rigor in vetting candidacies. "It's impressive that to be a municipal traffic officer you have to take an exam, but to be a criminal judge who resolves cases involving a cartel, all you have to do is send your resume," he said. Silvia Delgado is considered a "high-risk" candidate by rights group Defensorxs due to her past work for convicted drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman AFP
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Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
A Miami cop on car hood shot driver through windshield at music festival. Is it permitted?
Most law enforcement experts who watched the video of Miami Police Officer Mauricio Delgado lying on the hood of a car and shooting a music festival-goer through the front windshield say the officer was within his rights if he felt his life or others were in danger. But their observations come with a caveat: It's unclear exactly what led to Delgado lying face down on the hood of Menelek Emmanuel Clarke's black, two-door BMW, the officer's weapon almost pressed against the front windshield as the car crawled north on Biscayne Boulevard. Cellphone video taken from the scene outside the Caribbean music festival at Bayfront Park on Sunday night doesn't show the lead-up to the confrontation. The footage begins with Delgado on the car hood. And police haven't said if the officer activated his body worn camera — which is mandatory during interactions with the public, but not during traffic enforcement. READ MORE: Police officer shot driver outside music festival in Miami's Bayfront Park: officials 'I can't see what precipitated it, so I can't speculate,' said Dave Magnusson, a former high-ranking Miami police officer and El Portal police chief. 'What I can tell you is that the guy gets out of his car reaching for his waistband, he probably got lucky. He did then follow commands and was taken into custody.' Police say Delgado was one of four dozen officers working a shift directing traffic on the boulevard just outside the park during the Best of the Best music festival on Sunday. They say Clarke, 21, disobeyed an order to stop and drove at a slow pace into Delgado, who somehow ended up on vehicle's hood. Clarke's 17-year-old sister who was in the back seat, said the contact with the officer was accidental. They had just dropped their mother off who was to meet relatives with tickets to the concert, and they were looking for parking. Clarke, who records show lives in Broward County and was born in North Carolina, was shot several times and is recovering at Jackson Memorial's Ryder Trauma Center. Another law enforcement veteran who watched the video said the interaction raises questions. Chuck Wexler, executive director of Washington D.C.'s Police Executive Research Forum, said you'd need to review the officer's camera and surrounding surveillance video and piece together the facts to figure out exactly what happened. 'Sometimes it's a misunderstanding. It's hard to say at this point what justified the officer firing his weapon,' Wexler said. 'The video raises more questions than there are answers. You just don't know and it would be wrong to jump to conclusions.' Strict rules on firing into moving vehicle Miami police policy only allows officers to fire their weapons at a moving vehicle if deadly force is being used against the officer or another person by means other than the moving vehicle. Simply, unless someone inside Clarke's car was threatening Delgado harm, he should not have fired his weapon. 'The moving vehicle itself shall not presumptively constitute a threat that justifies an officer's use of deadly force. An officer threatened by an oncoming vehicle shall move out of its path instead of discharging a firearm at it or any of its occupants,' the policy states. 'The only exception is an act of terrorism where the vehicle is being used as a weapon.' The shooting at a vehicle policy was changed and tightened more than two decades ago by Miami Police Chief John Timoney. After the policy change, Miami Police went 22 months without an officer firing a weapon at a person. READ MORE: 'Law enforcement giant' John Timoney loses final battle to lung cancer Late Wednesday afternoon, Miami Police said they expect to charge Clarke with several crimes before the end of the week that include aggravated battery, leaving the scene of a crash, resisting arrest with violence and failure to obey a police command. And they still have not publicly released the name the officer who fired his weapon. Several law enforcement sources familiar with the incident confirmed to the Miami Herald the shooter was Delgado, who works the midnight shift in Allapattah and was working traffic duty the evening Clarke was shot. Several texts and calls to Miami's Fraternal Order of Police had not been returned as of late Wednesday. Clarke's sister Sherylann Clarke, who was in the car during the shooting, told Herald news partner WFOR Channel 4 that her brother did not hit Delgado intentionally. She said he was trying to maneuver around the officer when Delgado jumped in front of the car. READ MORE: Driver didn't mean to hit officer outside Miami music festival, sister says Clarke is represented by Hollywood defense attorney Michael Orenstein, who hasn't said much about the incident. Best of the Best goes bad Clarke was shot inside his car on Biscayne Boulevard at Northeast Second Street just after the yearly Caribbean music festival got underway. It was about 7:15 p.m. Most of the crowd estimated at 12,000 were in the park when Delgado ended up on the hood of Clarke's black BMW and opened fire. Cellphone video of the incident, which was posted on the Only in Dade website and on YouTube, begins with Clarke driving north on Biscayne and going past the crosswalk at Second Street with Delgado flat on his stomach on the hood in uniform. He's wearing a yellow vest and his weapon, in his right hand, is pointed inches from the windshield. As the car turned slowly west on Second Street, Delgado fires at least three shots, his legs sliding off the hood on the passenger front side of the car. A flash of the muzzle can be seen and the gunshots heard. The vehicle comes to a stop directly in front of a Miami police car. Bystanders are heard on the video asking what was happening. Clarke jumps out of his car in a white shirt and jeans and walks quickly east toward the park, his hands going down to his waist, then up in the air as ordered. He doesn't appear to be injured. He then obeys police commands to go to the ground, turns over and is handcuffed. Blood can be seen on the back of his shirt as an officer gets on top of him. Delgado was treated for minor injuries and released. Orenstein said Clarke was shot three times. He was hit in the right arm and chest, which exited through his back but caused a lung to collapse. And his attorney said Clarke was also shot in the bullet had not been removed as of Wednesday afternoon. Police officer stationed at hospital Orenstein, who is representing Clarke in an unrelated case in Broward County, said Wednesday that he's only seen the same social media videos as everyone else and that a Miami police officer has been stationed outside his client's hospital room at Jackson. 'At this point I don't know a lot of details and I don't believe my client committed those offenses,' Orenstein said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is reviewing the shooting to determine if it was a criminal act. Miami Police will investigate the charges against Clarke, which are expected to be filed formally when he's released from the hospital. Miami Herald staff writer Devoun Cetoute contributed to this report.
