If you wonder what's wrong with Mexico--a nation that despite decades of economic and democratic reforms is often seen as a collection of stereotypes associated with drug-related violence--take a look into its judicial system. With one of world's highest rates of impunity (estimated by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission at 99 % in 2008), Mexico has a dysfunctional judicial system, marred by corruption, cronyism, incompetence and crime.
Mexican Judges, notorious for letting criminals off the hook and releasing drug lords from prison, are rarely prosecuted or investigated. At best they are sanctioned or relieved from duties.
Yet an exception to this unwritten rule came recently when Mexican law enforcement authorities said they were investigating possible links to drug traffickers for a federal judge who ordered the release of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, the world's most powerful drug lord until his detention in Mexico in February.
El Chapito (Photo credit: Cuartoscuro/ Saúl López)
In a recent statement, the Federal Judiciary Council (Mexico's top federal judicial agency) said that it had opened an investigation on judge José Luna Altamirano after determining that he had made bank transfers in the millions of dollars and were not reflected in his financial disclosures. The Council said several family members also made large bank deposits.
In 2008, Luna Altamirano revoked a five-year prison sentence for Guzman's son, known as El Chapito (little Chapo), saying he had been sentenced based on "subjective, personal assessments and without a legal basis." Luna Altamirano has not been allowed on the bench since May 2013.
In a recent interview with a Mexican radio station, Luna Altamirano denied any links with organized crime or having received payments. He did admit to having absolved El Chapito for "lack of evidence."
Luna Altamarino has long been suspected of being an accomplice of Chapo Guzmán Loera, head of the powerful Sinaloa drug Cartel until his detention. In 2005, Jorge Fernández Menéndez, a columnist for the Mexican daily Excelsior, called Luna Altamirano "El Chapo's Judge." According to the columnist, Luna Altamirano was considered "untouchable" due to his close relation with Genaro Góngora Pimentel, former Chief Judge of Mexico's Supreme Court.
Luna Altamirano (Photo credit: Cuartosccuro/CJF)
El Chapito, 34, is one of Guzmán Loera's three sons by Alejandrina María Salazar Hernández, his first wife. He then had three more sons and a daughter with his second wife. Most of El Chapo's sons are involved in the drug business. In 2012, the U.S. Treasury blacklisted El Chapito and his half-brother Oviedo Guzmán López for their roles in their father’s drug trafficking organization. Treasury pointed out that in 2005, Mexican authorities arrested El Chapito on money laundering charges, but he was later released (by Luna Altamirano). El Chapito has been mentioned as a possible successor to his father in the Sinaloa Cartel's top leadership.
Some of El Chapo's sons are very active on social networks. The twitter account @_IvanGuzman_ and a facebook account under the name Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, are believe to belong to El Chapito. In 2013, El Chapito posted a photo of his father with the message: "mi apa." In a recent article, The Washington Post said it could not confirm the authenticity of El Chapito's social media accounts, which glorify the narco junior's life of violence and lavish wealth in numerous snapshots for thousands of followers.
Twitter: @DoliaEstevez
