MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar lashed out Wednesday at Mexico’s failure to accept aid in the fight against drug cartels, claiming the country “closed the doors” on security cooperation.
In a press conference, Salazar launched his harshest criticism yet of rampant violence, police corruption and the Mexican government’s mistaken attitude that “there is no problem.”
“When they just say ‘there is no problem, we have these statistics to show people there is no problem,’ that is not based on reality,”“ Salazar said. “There is a very big problem.”
Mexico's foreign relations ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statements by Salazar.
Salazar cited violence in recent days in the northern state of Sinaloa as an example. Sinaloa state police chief Gerardo Mérida said Wednesday authorities found a pile of between five and seven bodies on a roadside there, but were still counting body parts to see how many there were.
“There is a pile of various bodies, with what we have found we have identified five bodies, but some are in pieces, they have been dismembered, there are mentions of seven,” said Mérida.
Sinaloa's embattled governor, Ruben Rocha, seemed to typify Mexico's attitude when he said Tuesday —after a similar number of dead bodies were dumped on roadsides - that “we're doing well, we'll get over this soon.”
Salazar countered that in Sinaloa “the dead can be seen everywhere.”
Salazar had previously defended many of the Mexican government’s actions, but he now says former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” strategy of not confronting the cartels “did not work.”
López Obrador left office on Sept. 30, but his successor, President Claudia Sheinbaum, has pledged to continue the policy, even though under her leadership troops appear more willing to open fire.
Fighting between two factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel broke out after two drug capos — one from each faction — flew to the United States and were arrested there on July 25.
Drug lords Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were apprehended in the United States after flying there in a small plane.
Zambada later claimed he was kidnapped and forced aboard the plane by Guzmán López, causing a violent battle between Zambada’s faction and the “Chapitos” group led by the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Mexico later blamed the United States for detaining the capos, saying that had caused the outbreak of violence. Salazar said Mexico also shut down anti-drug cooperation after that.
“It totally accelerated from there, the Mexican government closed its doors,” Salazar said. The ambassador also criticized efforts by both López Obrador and Sheinbaum to downplay the problem of crime and violence, claiming the problem was being exaggerated and crime statistics were dropping.
Salazar did not clarify why he thought the Mexican government's numbers were untrustworthy, but in recent days the government appears to have changed the way it reports homicide figures.
“The reality for the Mexican people, and that is for businesspeople, members of the press like you who work on the streets, those who have ranches, like the cattleman killed in Sinaloa over the weekend because he was a leader, they don't live with security,” Salazar said.
The continuing violence “is a very serious problem in Mexico and saying there is no problem, blaming someone else, blaming the United States, obviously is not (the solution)", he continued.
He also blamed López Obrador for having refused “$32 million," an apparent reference to López Obrador's decision to drop out of a U.S.-funded program to donate money to train and equip Mexican police.
“It was rejected for ideological problems, and other explanations,” Salazar said. López Obrador said at the time he didn't want U.S. helicopters and guns, but by that point most of the U.S. money was going for training, professionalization and legal reform.
After taking office in 2018, López Obrador also cut funding for police forces and gave the army, navy and militarized National Guard the lead role in law enforcement.
“Police become corrupt because they don't earn enough to live on,” Salazar said. “You cannot pay a police officer almost nothing and expect them to do their job.”
Salazar had been previously known for defending López Obrador despite his constant efforts to militarize law enforcement, concentrate power, eliminate regulatory and oversight bodies and shore up Mexico's government-run companies even at the expense of U.S. firms.
It was unclear if Wednesday's critical turn in his rhetoric was in any way related to the victory of Donald Trump in last week's U.S. presidential elections. Trump has long been fiercely critical of Mexico.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
FILE - U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar speaks during a press conference at the new embassy still under construction, in Mexico City, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
TURIN, Italy (AP) — There “could have been better communication” in explaining the rules involved in Jannik Sinner's doping case, ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi acknowledged Thursday.
However, Gaudenzi said at the ATP Finals that anyone hinting that a “double standard” was applied because of top-ranked Sinner’s status is “unfair because the rules have been the same.”
Sinner is playing at home this week for the first time since it was announced before his U.S. Open title that he tested positive for an anabolic steroid in two separate drug tests in March.
The case wasn't made public until August.
“I learned the day before we all learned,” Gaudenzi said in his first public comments on the case. He spoke in a round-table discussion with international reporters.
“And to be honest, I’m happy about that. I really thank the ITA (International Testing Agency) and our representatives there for intentionally keeping me and our entire team in the dark because that’s how it should be.
“It should be completely independent and that was agreed by the (parties). It was a shock, but obviously comforted by the evidence afterward.”
A decision by an independent tribunal to clear Sinner of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September and the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to make a final ruling on the case early next year.
Sinner’s explanation was that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
WADA is seeking a ban of one to two years for Sinner.
“We are completely external and it’s (an) independent process,” Gaudenzi said. “I generally think has been a fair process. It was really done by the book and by the rules. Maybe there could have been better communication in explaining those rules, and that is something that I would urge every party involved to work better in the next time.”
Gaudenzi said he plans to announce on Sunday the future host of the ATP Finals. The contract with Turin expires next year and there is an option to move the event to nearby Milan at a bigger arena being built for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“We are all super happy with what’s happened here in Turin and of course we’ve been a bit lucky with the players in Italy,” Gaudenzi said. "It's not only Jannik but also Matteo Berrettini played the first edition. Nobody could foresee that.
“We knew we were going to a tennis country,” said Gaudenzi, who is Italian and a former pro player. “(Finals) should definitely go in a market that loves tennis. ... It’s obviously going to get better if you have a local hero, no doubt.”
Gaudenzi does not want to move the finals too far away geographically from the previous stop on the circuit, the Paris Masters.
“We want to try to avoid the players to fly around the world," he said, “because they do enough traveling all over throughout the year.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
United States' Taylor Fritz serves the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
United States' Taylor Fritz, right, and Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
United States' Taylor Fritz, bottom, returns the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
United States' Taylor Fritz returns the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
United States' Taylor Fritz, right, serves the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
United States' Taylor Fritz serves the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Italy's Jannik Sinner holds the trophy as ATP world best player at the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Sinner was presented with the trophy for finishing the year ranked No. 1. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Italy's Jannik Sinner holds the trophy as ATP world best player at the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Sinner was presented with the trophy for finishing the year ranked No. 1. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Italy's Jannik Sinner returns the ball to United States' Taylor Fritz during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
