Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman paid a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, a key witness said during the ongoing trial against the drug lord.
The revelation appears to be the most alarming following a long series of witnesses who provided insight into the vast alleged corruption within the Mexican government. The claims from the trial will be the first time that U.S. news outlets are forced to cover Pena Nieto’s ties to drug cartels, something that first came to light in 2016 after a team of Mexican journalists revealed the now former president’s 2012 campaign received money from associates of the Juarez Cartel.
The most recent accusation was made by Columbian drug trafficker Alex Cifuentes, who testified that El Chapo told him Enrique Pena Nieto demanded $250 million USD in exchange for the drug lord to be left alone. However, the politician settled for $100 million. The testimony was reported by Alan Feuer of the New York Times who tweeted some of the testimony.
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Cifuentes said that EPN reached out to Chapo first, asking for $250 million. Chapo offered EPN $100 million.
“The message was that Mr. Guzman didn’t have to stay in hiding?” Chapo’s lawyer asked.
“Yes,” Cifuentes said, “that very thing is what Joaquin said to me.”— Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) January 15, 2019
The testimony and interviews that Cifuentes had with U.S. investigators also indicate to former Mexican President Felipe Calderon allegedly took bribes from the Beltran Leyva Cartel in order to protect them from El Chapo.
Former Pres Felipe Calderon was also accused by Chapo’s lawyers of taking bribes from drug traffickers.
Jeff Lichtman read Cifuentes notes from his 2/2016 interview with the US in which he said the Beltran Leyva brothers, Chapo’s enemies, paid Calderon to protect them vs Chapo.— Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) January 15, 2019
As Breitbart News reported, former Mexican President Vicente Fox was also tarnished by the revelation that his chief bodyguard was an employee of the Sinaloa Cartel. That claim was made by top cartel lieutenant Vicente Zambada Niebla, who is the son of El Chapo’s partner, Vicente “El Mayo” Zambada.
The testimony also noted that the drug lord paid off the military for protection from other cartels and perform offensive maneuvers on his behalf.
Cifuentes also testified that two or three times, Chapo paid the Mexican military $10-12 million to launch offensive operations against his rivals, the Beltran-Leyva brothers.
— Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) January 15, 2019
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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