By Ricardo Lezama President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has remarked in his usual morning conference that the extradition of Tomas Zeron has become complicated due to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Tomas Zeron was the lead investigator in the botched investigation of the Ayotzinapa student disappearance. The case was manipulated by Enrique Peña Nieto’s government due to vested interests and a network of corruption that protected regional power players. Zeron was a member of the federal prosecutor’s office. He fled Mexico once enough evidence emerged over his corrupt practices.
Mexico-Israel Relations
While Mexico has maintained a neutral position regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, the government of Mexico has also appealed to Israel for development of a humanitarian corridor. Mexican citizens are currently blocked from leaving Gaza.
Tomas Zeron, who has strong ties to the NSO Group, is wanted in Mexico for his role in the torturing of suspects linked to the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa students. The students were first disappeared on September 26, 2014, many presume them to have been murdered by state linked agents, but their bodies were never recovered. This last point is what permitted various state-sponsored narratives to emerge that were later disproven.
Ayotzinapa Families Press for Zeron Extradition
Shockingly, the Ayotzinapa case by itself and the corruption around it, led to 120+ people being arrested for both the act of disappearing the students and corrupt officials botching the investigation.
In Zeron’s case, there are multiple allegations with many substantiated via video footage of Zeron pressuring suspects into confessions that they refused to concede despite their being tortured.
The parents of the 43 Ayotzinapa students have long called for AMLO to seek the extradition of Zeron. As many Mexicans recall, Zeron was tasked with fabricating the ‘Verdad Histórica’, a narrative to quickly resolve the matter of the disappearance in a manner favorable to regional authorities.
The narrative was to say the Ayotzinapa students were burned in an abandoned dumpster in Cocula, Guerrero. Zeron ensured to fabricate testimonials through torture that would support this narrative.
Zeron was seen planting evidence at the scene of the crime in Iguala, Guerrero. He also ordered the torture of possibly scapegoated suspects for confessions. At the time, the international pressure to resolve the case was countered by EPN’s efforts to protect certain regional interests.
Optimism
Optimism remains that diplomatic relations with #Israel will facilitate the extradition of Tomas Zeron, the lead prosecutor into the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa students. Prior agreements had appeared fruitful for #Mexicans in the United States and #Mexico who had hoped Israel would hand over Zeron. There remains hope that Zeron would be brought to justice since his corruption is emblematic of root causes for migration.