Marcelo Ebrard affirms that in Mexico the criterion of immunity invoked by arms manufacturers who are sued in the United States is not applicable.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, assured yesterday that the immunity criterion enjoyed by arms companies in the United States, thanks to the Law for the Protection of the Legal Trade in Arms (PLCAA, for its acronym in English), does not apply in Mexico; For this reason, he affirmed, it was possible for the lawsuit filed by the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador to continue against him in a Boston court.
He also stressed that according to an econometric analysis, in the last decade the weapons coming illegally from the state of Massachusetts to Mexico amount to 250,000.
“In the first place, that the immunity criterion, in the United States there is legislation that gives immunity to these arms manufacturers, it does not apply in Mexico, why? Because in Mexico another legal system operates where the handling of weapons is not allowed as it is in the United States or with the same regulations and, of course, the immunity they invoke does not apply, ”Ebrard stressed in a video released by the Foreign Ministry.
On behalf of Mexico, he thanked the countries, entities of the United States, specialists, organizations and victims that have shown their support for the lawsuit that continues against arms manufacturers for negligent trade.
The support shown through the figure of amicus curiae or “friends of the Court” endorses and legitimizes, according to the Foreign Ministry, the “effort to achieve the security of all people in Mexico and in other latitudes”, through the lawsuit that seeks to influence the illegal arms trade.
“This support from so many states of the American Union, from attorneys general and also from some countries such as Antigua and Belize (…) little by little we suppose that other countries will be added, arguing that measures must be taken so that it does not continue to exist. this negligence and this arms trafficking. I have once said: ‘it is a river of weapons towards Mexico that affects all Mexicans and Mexicans’”.
Fire from boston
The head of the SRE recalled that on Monday, with the Mexican government’s response to the defense of arms manufacturing companies, an econometric analysis was presented to establish the number of firearms illegally trafficked to Mexico in recent years that are linked with Massachusetts and with the defendant companies.
According to this analysis, the number of weapons produced and distributed by the defendant companies, linked to Massachusetts and illegally trafficked to Mexico, amounts to more than 250,000 in the last 10 years.
“We tell you and we prove it, and there will be an opportunity to see in the trial that will follow, is that between 2011 and today, about 250,000 weapons have arrived in Mexico through illegal means from Massachusetts and we know them because they have been involved in different criminal acts”, he stressed.
For this reason, it was detailed that Mexico requested the judge the opportunity to advance in the litigation so that in a stage of production of evidence additional information on the number of weapons trafficked to Mexico and traced to Massachusetts can be known. Rejecting the request for dismissal of the companies.
“We manifest the clear negligence of these companies in their actions, which we demonstrate because they are marketing weapons that they know are going to end up in illicit activities or they intend to end up in that type of market, they even have a series of pistols that are inspired by the narcoseries,” Ebrard stressed.
Agreements with the European Union
Mexico and the European Union agreed to exchange best practices to combat arms trafficking, the SRE reported last night.
Through the EU Arms Export Control Program – ATT Phase II, Mexico and the EU established a collaborative project to address the challenges posed by illicit transfers, diversion and illicit trafficking of firearms.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry highlighted yesterday that a regional seminar was convened, which was held remotely on January 19 and 20, which aimed to promote exchanges at the level of experts on best practices to prevent trade diversion. of small arms and light weapons and their illicit trade in the region.