{"id":24339,"date":"2025-12-05T10:43:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/?p=24339"},"modified":"2025-12-05T10:49:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:49:21","slug":"mexicos-office-of-the-prosecutor-general-the-game-of-make-believe-in-a-country-dominated-by-impunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/2025\/12\/05\/mexicos-office-of-the-prosecutor-general-the-game-of-make-believe-in-a-country-dominated-by-impunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico\u2019s Office of the Prosecutor General: The Game of Make-Believe in a Country Dominated by Impunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published in Spanish in Aristegui Noticias, available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The country is experiencing one of its most critical moments of impunity. The recent demonstration by truck drivers in response to the violence they face is more than a cry for help\u2014it is a cry of desperation and sheer survival. Many regions of the country are under the control of organized crime, and it seems as though the prosecutorial authorities have nothing to do with it. That is what the \u201cFourth Transformation\u201d (4T) has led us to believe.<\/p>\n

Contrary to the image that has been sold to us in recent years, violence and insecurity are not problems that can be addressed solely in the streets or through the arrest of alleged criminals, nor do they depend only on a Judicial Branch composed of \u201ccompetent\u201d judges of \u201cunquestionable integrity\u201d chosen\u2014apparently\u2014by the people.<\/p>\n

Using the rise in violence as an excuse, the 4T further militarized public security, and we have seen no positive change. The administration also tried to mislead us by advancing a popular-election process for the Judiciary, claiming that this would reduce impunity and ensure justice. Nothing could be further from the truth. Justice will hardly come without an autonomous, professionalized Prosecutor\u2019s Office equipped to investigate and effectively prosecute cases before a judge. That is precisely why the government needed judges on its side while keeping the Prosecutor\u2019s Office out of the public debate. A complicit judiciary and a subordinate Prosecutor\u2019s Office work best for authoritarian governments seeking to operate without checks and balances.<\/p>\n

In this context\u2014and despite civil society\u2019s efforts to highlight the central role of the Prosecutor\u2019s Office and push for a solid, genuinely autonomous institution, efforts that even resulted in significant constitutional and legal reforms\u2014the Prosecutor\u2019s Office in Mexico has historically been a tool of political control. It has never been an autonomous institution, independent from the executive branch, serious and professional, committed to truth and justice. Autonomy means investigating anyone who commits a crime, regardless of who they are or where they come from, without external interference in that decision. This Prosecutor\u2019s Office has done everything but investigate crimes, and by perpetuating impunity, it also perpetuates violence. That is why the violence we see in the streets is so closely tied to the Prosecutor\u2019s Office and to those in charge of it.<\/p>\n

Successive parties and governments have used the Prosecutor\u2019s Office for their own benefit, appointing \u201cclose\u201d or \u201cfriendly\u201d prosecutors who protect them and their interests. As Alejandro Gertz Manero himself said in his infamous 100-day report upon taking office: we have a Prosecutor\u2019s Office designed to protect friends and persecute enemies. This 4T government, along with Gertz Manero, far from strengthening prosecutorial autonomy, threw years of work and effort overboard and cemented the alliance between the Prosecutor\u2019s Office and the Executive Branch. It cemented subordination with the Senate\u2019s complicity. They violated the constitutional principle of autonomy.<\/p>\n

It is not that autonomy doesn\u2019t work for a Prosecutor\u2019s Office. The model is not the problem. The problem is the perversion, manipulation, and misuse of so-called autonomy\u2014because real power brokers have no use for it when they cannot control it.<\/p>\n

With the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI, by its Spanish acronym), this was crystal clear. Who can forget Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s attempt to appoint Ra\u00fal Cervantes as the first \u201cautonomous\u201d Prosecutor, which gave rise to the term \u201cfriendly prosecutor\u201d (fiscal carnal<\/em>)? Many of the figures now in the 4T opposed it back then; one can still find photos of them in the Senate holding signs that read \u201cNo to the fiscal carnal<\/em>.\u201d Today, they are part of the same game.<\/p>\n

Although the 4T built much of its strength on demands for justice and complaints of the violence, corruption, and impunity of previous governments, once in power it has only continued\u2014and even perfected\u2014the same practices, deepening the co-optation and dismantling of law enforcement and justice institutions.<\/p>\n

The first step was to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors by appointing Alejandro Gertz Manero\u2014a close ally of former President L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2014as Prosecutor General. From the beginning of his tenure\u2014and with the Senate\u2019s complicit silence\u2014he violated the Constitution by refusing to comply with the Organic Law of the Prosecutor\u2019s Office. That law, developed jointly with civil society to move the institution forward, had been approved by the Senate shortly before. He failed to establish the Prosecutorial Council, failed to submit the reports required by law, failed to produce the criminal prosecution plan\u2014which was essential for the public to know his priorities for combating impunity\u2014and failed to follow the rules for appointing special prosecutors. Most importantly, there was no strategy to confront the entrenched organized crime and grand corruption the country is facing. He leaves the country engulfed in impunity and the institution even more destroyed. That is the final diagnosis of his tenure.<\/p>\n

Rather than acting as an institutional counterweight and demanding compliance with the law, the Senate once again contributed to institutional weakening by amending the Organic Law of the Prosecutor\u2019s Office at Gertz Manero\u2019s request. The law imposed obligations that were, by all indications, inconvenient for him. The reform dismantled the advances achieved and diluted all accountability mechanisms. They handed him a tailor-made law so he could dismantle the institution.<\/p>\n

Despite having criticized the previous use of the Prosecutor\u2019s Office to benefit those in power, Gertz Manero acted according to the same unwritten rule: he decided to pursue scientists and academics\u2014considered \u201cenemies\u201d of the administration\u2014as well as his niece-in-law, with whom he had personal grievances. Meanwhile, he left the \u201cfriends\u201d untouched: military officials facing serious allegations of involvement in serious crimes and gross human rights violations\u2014such as General Salvador Cienfuegos. He also failed to investigate the military officers who, in collusion with the Federal Executive, systematically concealed information on the Ayotzinapa case. He conducted a tailor-made investigation to guarantee impunity for Francisco Gardu\u00f1o, the former head of the National Migration Institute and a close ally of the 4T, regarding the fire in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez that left 40 dead and around 26 injured after authorities refused to open the door, causing migrants to die trapped by flames and smoke. Under his leadership, the Prosecutor\u2019s Office was defined by its inaction in the face of one of the most severe humanitarian crises the country faces\u2014one that the government tries to deny at all costs\u2014with nearly 150,000 people disappeared.<\/p>\n

And precisely because the fundamental role of the Prosecutor\u2019s Office has been erased from public debate, those who lead the institution have remained beyond any accountability\u2014especially for what they have failed to do. Their responsibility in the context of violence, insecurity, and impunity has been silenced. Instead of being required to answer for their performance, they leave their posts rewarded: the Prosecutor General, apparently with an ambassadorship, and his former Special Prosecutor for Human Rights, Sara Irene Herrer\u00edas\u2014who oversaw the units for Disappeared Persons and Migrants\u2014now serves as a justice on the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.<\/p>\n

In this context, it is worth asking: Why did the Prosecutor General leave? Why did he \u201cretire\u201d? Can someone simply decide to step down and take another position? We do not know whether he violated a pact or what the real cause is. We are a country where complicit silences are rewarded and accountability is nonexistent. As Mexicans, we do not deserve this, and responsibility lies with the President and with the Senate. Gertz should have left long ago; in fact, he should never have been appointed in the first place. But now he cannot simply walk away without being held accountable.<\/p>\n

It would be deeply unfortunate if nothing happens in response to these abuses\u2014if the Senate, once again complicit, fails to hold a serious debate on his departure, demand accountability, and disclose the real reason for his \u201cretirement\u201d; if there is no civic reaction, no public outcry, despite what the 4T is doing in the face of a profound impunity crisis, treating appointments to our justice institutions as pieces in a political game to be moved at their convenience.<\/p>\n

The height of make-believe and cynicism is the Senate\u2019s open call for candidates to lead the Prosecutor\u2019s Office: they give one weekend\u2014three days\u2014for candidates to submit documents and apply. Seriously? Do they think serious, professional individuals with a vocation for justice will take part in this charade? Is this the importance they assign to one of the most crucial institutions in the country? Meanwhile, they appoint as \u201cacting prosecutor\u201d one of their most loyal allies\u2014 none other than the legal counsel to President Claudia Sheinbaum\u2019s Cabinet until a day ago \u2014who will most likely become the next Prosecutor General. It seems the value they place on autonomy is zero. They don\u2019t even bother to keep up appearances anymore. These are the same practices we saw and lived through under other political parties such as the PRI and PAN.<\/p>\n

Many of the institutions we fought for over many years have been lost in recent times. Citizen participation is an essential tool to recover institutions, and this begins with those who lead them. In the midst of the crisis enveloping Mexico, the appointment of the next Prosecutor General is of the utmost importance, and we cannot remain on the sidelines. We will only be able to restore our democracy if we step forward to defend it\u2014if we involve ourselves in defending what belongs to us. Justice belongs to us. These institutions belong to us; they do not belong to just a few.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published in Spanish in Aristegui Noticias, available here. The country is experiencing one of its most critical moments of impunity. The recent demonstration by truck drivers in response to the violence they face is more than a cry for help\u2014it is a cry of desperation and sheer survival. Many regions of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":24340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[513],"tags":[],"country":[884,887],"issue":[856,863],"program":[872],"resource":[],"class_list":["post-24339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","country-america-del-norte","country-mexico","issue-public-prosecution-offices","issue-public-security","program-judicial-independence"],"acf":{"boton_1":"","url_boton_1\u00ba":"","boton_2":"","url_boton_2":"","boton_3":"","url_boton_3":"","boton_4":"","url_boton_4":"","boton_5":"","url_boton_5":"","boton_6":"","url_boton_6":"","boton_7":"","url_boton_7":"","boton_8":"","url_boton_8":"","boton_9":"","url_boton_9":"","boton_10":"","url_boton_10":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_6208.webp?fit=1920%2C1079&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24341,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24339\/revisions\/24341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24339"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=24339"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=24339"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=24339"},{"taxonomy":"resource","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource?post=24339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}