PULSE NEWS MEXICO

Infamous Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — who managed to “escape” from Mexico’s maximum-security prisons at least two times and who is currently in a U.S. penitentiary in New York serving life plus 30 years for an array of crimes ranging from drug trafficking and money laundering to the illegal possession of firearms and  homicide — allegedly sent a letter to leftist Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) earlier this month asking for his repatriation to Mexico.

Guzmán’s lawyer, José Refugio, spoke with journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva (yes, the same Gómez Leyva who has recently been in the news for alleged attempts on his life) during a program on Radio Formula on Tuesday, Jan. 17, claiming that El Chapo has faced “excessive and inhumane punishment” during his incarceration in the United States.

“He has never seen sunlight in the six years he has been in prison there,” Refugio said.

“The food is of terrible quality, and he has received only three visits, while the other prisoners are allowed to see their families five or six times a month.”

Refugio said that, in his letter, the drug lord has appealed to AMLO’s sense of humanity to request his repatriation to Mexico since Guzmán’s “basic human rights had been violated.”

Asked about Guzmán’s request during his daily morning press conference on Tuesday, AMLO said that he had not yet reviewed the letter and “would see” if he would comply.

However, later in the day, Mexican Foreign Relations (SRE) Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that it would be difficult for Mexico to make such a request.

Not coincidentally, Guzmán’s letter was sent just prior to the start of the trial of Genaro García Luna, the former Mexican secretary of public security who served during the government of President Felipe Calderón, who faced a U.S. judge on Tuesday, Jan. 17.

Also, earlier this month, Guzmán’s youngest son, Ovidio Guzmán López, was detained in a bloody shootout in Sinaloa, where he and his brothers are believed to have continued as heads of the Sinaloa Cartel, the largest source of illicit drugs entering the United States.

Guzmán López is wanted on a number of drug-related charges in the United States, although the Mexican prosecutor’s office has yet to bring charges against him and the Mexican government has blocked efforts to extradite him to the United States.