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Imprisoned Cartel Leader El Chapo Calls on AMLO to Save Him From 'Psychological Torment'

© AFP 2023 / PEDRO PARDOMexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador delivers a speech during the virtual Earth Day Summit, at the National Palace in Mexico City, on April 22, 2021
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador delivers a speech during the virtual Earth Day Summit, at the National Palace in Mexico City, on April 22, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 19.01.2023
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Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán is currently serving a life sentence in Colorado’s Supermax prison for multiple charges including drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapon charges.
Convicted drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán sent a message described as an “SOS” to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, commonly referred to as AMLO, asking him for help due to the “psychological torment” he is suffering at the hands of the US judicial system.
José Refugio Rodríguez, a lawyer representing Guzmán, told reporters on Tuesday that “in the six years that Joaquin has been in the United States, he has not seen the sun,” clarifying that Guzmán is only allowed outside three times a week in a 2 by 2.5-meter enclosure that is not hit by the sun.
The letter, sent to the Mexican consulate, also states visit requests have only been granted to Guzmán five or six times in the six years he has been in the Colorado Supermax prison, compared to other inmates who get that many visits in a month.
It's also alleged the former cartel leader has not had a human rights visit, that the prison had denied him medical care, pulling out teeth for a toothache instead of treating it, and denying his US lawyer - Mariel Colón - access to documents that Rodríguez says he has.

“Since Mr. Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera arrived in the United States of America, he has been confined, receiving cruel and inhumane treatment, inasmuch as he has been isolated, without having contact with other persons, deprived of his liberty, segregated in a cell, without the correctional officers being able to communicate in Spanish with him, which translates into an act of torture, cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment,” a translated letter reads.

The letter also claims there were procedural violations in Guzmán’s extradition to the United States, which took place under former US President Donald Trump and former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

President Obrador did not immediately deny Guzmán’s request. “We will review it,” he reportedly said. “You always have to keep the door open when it comes to human rights.”

Initially, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard doubted there would be any intervention by the Mexican government on behalf of Guzmán. “He is serving a sentence there, he has a sentence,” he reportedly told journalists on Tuesday. “So, frankly I don't see any possibilities for him, but I'm going to review it with the prosecutor's office.”
The United States and Mexico have a prisoner exchange program, allowing convicted inmates to serve their time in their home countries in some circumstances. Considering the seriousness of Guzmán’s crimes and the fact that he escaped a Mexican prison in the past, it is unlikely the United States would hand him over easily.
Obrador earlier promised to take a softer approach with cartels before being elected to office, saying his predecessors’ previous heavy-handed approach resulted in more violence. Obrador wanted to take a “hugs not guns” approach with the gangs and cartels in Mexico, addressing the root issues of poverty.
FILE - On October 17, 2019, a video fragment provided by the Mexican government shows Ovidio Guzmán López at the time of his arrest, in Culiacan, Mexico. Mexican security forces were forced to release the son of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman that day after a shootout in the western city of Culiacan. - Sputnik International, 1920, 07.01.2023
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However, AMLO has seemingly backed away from that approach at times, with the arrest of Guzmán’s son, Ovidio, taking place earlier this month. That arrest resulted in Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel temporarily taking over the city of Culiacán, leaving at least 30 dead in shootouts with police and the military.
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