Mexican journalist wins the legal battle against former "Zeta governor" Humberto Moreira

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat from El Pais and Reforma

The man WSJ named as one of top ten most corrupt politicians in Mexico-- The former president of the PRI had sued the columnist for moral damage, a practice in Mexico to harass the press.  From the journalist’s editorial; "Moreira is a politician who gives off the corrupt stench, who in the best scenario was ignored in the face of terrible human rights violations committed in Coahuila, and who, finally, is a standard-bearer of the renowned Mexican impunity."

Aguayo

Dr. Sergio Aguayo can now sleep peacefully, after three years of "horror". Living a hell of courts, lawyers, amparos and hearings, that had become the central part of his life since he decided to write a column denouncing the corruption of Humberto Moreira's government in Coahuila (north/East Mexico).

A judge has issued this week a ruling in favor of the Mexican journalist, writer and historian, with 48 years of experience, where he is acquitted of any crime of damage to morals, as the ex-governor had demanded.

On January 20, 2016, the text in which Aguayo denounced the Mexican authorities' passivity in the fight against corruption in the case of the ex-governor of Coahuila, who became former president of the national PRI, was published in the Mexican newspaper Reforma. [read article at bottom]

At that time, he had been arrested in Madrid for crimes of criminal organization, money laundering, embezzlement of public funds and bribery, one month later, he was released.

Moreover, the journalist in that column, said: "Moreira is a politician who gives off the corrupt stench, who in the best scenario was ignored in the face of terrible human rights violations committed in Coahuila, and who, finally, is a standard-bearer of the renowned Mexican impunity." A few words used by Moreira's defense to argue his claim for moral damage against the writer. And that this week has dismissed a judge for "lack of evidence" against the writer.

100s murdered, Grenades, bulldozers, fire allowed to burn for days in Allende as Zetas sought retribution 

The political journalist/scientist considers the lawsuit was sought to intimidate him and to wear him down because in March 2016 he began coordinating from El Colegio de México an investigation into the crimes committed by Los Zetas in Allende and Piedras Negras, Coahuila.

The Government of Moreira in Coahuila, between 2005 and 2011, was marked by stratospheric figures of debt, the State owed 25 million dollars at the beginning of its mandate and left it with 2,500 million of debt. Moreira was alleged to have alleged links to the Zetas and to use the Coahuila coffers to finance political campaigns of the PRI and former president Enrique Peña Nieto, but the Mexican “Justice” could not prove any crime. After moving to Barcelona, ​​Spain arrested him in 2016, but released him for lack of evidence that he had committed a crime in that country. The ex-governor, since then, has denied the accusations and has placed his triumphs on the bench as an argument for his innocence in every scandal he has faced.

His legal battle against the journalist, however, has been lost. A judge has considered that the journalist was using freedom of expression and professional reasons of the author to write that column, which prevails over the possible moral damage caused, for which Moreira demanded compensation from the beginning of 10 million pesos (about 500,000 dollars).

Where is the money?  Protests from Coahuila citizens who once adored their governor

The journalist himself acknowledges that probably the purpose of the lawsuit was not even to win it - "it was extravagant and they did not have evidence" - but to harass, exhaust and indebt him to such an extent that he stopped investigating the possible responsibility of the ex-governor in the great massacres that perpetrated the drug cartels in their Entity, as was the case of Allende or in the prison of Piedras Negras.

"My case shows that the methods of harassment of journalists in Mexico are not only death threats, but also judicial harassment." Many colleagues, especially from outside the capital, have not been as lucky as I am and have.  They have had to even mortgage their  house to face the costs of the trial,"Aguayo denounces in a telephone interview to this newspaper. The columnist says that, despite the fact that the law firm that represented him did so without charging him a peso, in these three years of legal battle more than 400,000 (about 20,500 dollars) have been spent.

Aguayo criticizes mainly that this "strategy" is "widely spread in Mexico" and is not contemplated in any of the protection mechanisms for journalists offered by the Government. "I want this type of case to be known to draw attention to a major problem. , which is the use of the demand for damages to morale to harass those who write independently,"denounces the journalist.

He adds: "Unfortunately, in our country, journalists have had to get used to coping with the harassment of power, politicians, businessmen or organized crime, and this harassment has different methods and strategies to try to silence us, one of which is judicial".

Lalo murdered by ZPolicias in Acuna 

Comment from Chivis:  This travesty happened in my opinion because PRI party was in fear of losing the presidential election.  And noteworthy, Moreira was on track in becoming the presidential candidate for PRI in 2018.

A deal with the devil was made.  Moreira was to resign and disappear during a cooling off period.  He moved his family to Madrid.  He was also promised that no charges would ever be brought forth against him, leaving the door open for him to again try towards political office.

It is sad this great journalist was stopped in his tracks by the lawsuit, in investigating the crimes in Coahuila.  What he has written is not only accurate, but a tiny drop in the vast sea of corruption and destruction  left behind by this "Zeta Governor". 

EPN, Moreira’s friend, and every other prominent PRI Politician turned their collective backs on Moreira.  This was no more evident than in 2012 when Moreira’s son Lalo Moreira was executed by Los Zetas in Acuna, Coahuila, in a settling of scores for the state police killing Miguel Trevino’s nephew the day prior.  “Nephew for Nephew” read the mantas.

Not one Politician an attended the funeral. 

Ironic was that the killing was not specifically against Humberto, but his brother Rubén Moreira who succeeded his brother to the governorship.  At the time of Lalo’s killing, the brothers were no longer speaking.  Humberto blame his brother for the death because Rubén had rescinded Lalo’s armored vehicle and body guards’ weeks prior to the killing.   

In full disclosure, I knew Lalo, he called on me during a hurricane that wiped out bridges impeding supplies.  I had a bodega full of supplies. Lalo was a good kid.  He worked hard for Acuna, putting in long hours helping those who most needed assistance. 

Who knows what that would have evolved into?  He was a love child who Moreira publicly claimed when running for governor, Lalo was about 18 at the time. To his credit, Humberto was a present parent from the moment of Lalo’s birth.  Lalo was invited to move to Saltillo and live with Moreira and his family.  Lalo declined. He never lived with the Moreira’s.  He loved Acuna, the dusty little town that sits on the Rio Bravo side of the border. If you saw; “No Country for Old Men”, “El Mariacjhi” “Desparado” or “Like Water for Chocolate”, that’s Acuna, many movies filmed in the town. 

The refusal to move to Saltillo demonstrates his commitment to his hometown.  I was very saddened to hear about his murder.  He and his wife, Lucero Davis de Moreira, had just welcomed their first child, a son, named Lalo Moreira II.

The hundreds who attended were the people of Coahuila.  No dignitaries, politicians  or famous people.

His uncle, the governor, did not attend Lalo’s funeral, my entire staff did.  

Moreira in center

The Article that began the law suit-by Dr. Sergio Aguayo

Humberto Moreira faces, finally, justice: the Spanish, which with this act, shows that Mexican institutions are virtuous in the protection of the corrupt. 

After the arrest, on Friday, January 8, of El Chapo Guzmán, Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu praised, before ambassadors and consuls, the message of the #MisiónCumplida del Presidente; He also informed the President that those gathered there were "ready to take to all corners of the world" the "vision that you inspire us to transmit" and that included the "Rule of Law" and the "solid institutions". 

On Friday 15 of the same month Humberto Moreira was arrested and imprisoned in Madrid. The brutal blow resurrected the corrosive judgment of the New York Times in its editorial at the beginning of the year: Peña Nieto "will be remembered" as the "head of government who avoided accountability". 

The arrest also revolted the response of the coordinator of Marca País and International Media of the Presidency, Paulo Carreño King, to the same newspaper. There is no way to believe that the government "works to improve the National Anti-Corruption System." 

The judicial order has the dryness and aridity of the Castilian plateau. According to the document (I have a copy), in 2013 Humberto Moreira received from Mexican companies 199,079.48 euros. [225k USD] The authority was suspicious  and in March 2014 began the investigations that led to his arrest for the "crimes of criminal organization, money laundering, embezzlement of public funds and bribery." If convicted, he will spend eleven years in prison. As the case in the United States is independent of Madrid, Moreira will stumble for several years. 

Charges dropped "lack of evidence"

When they arrested him, the Spanish National Police (@policia) sent a tweet to which they added the hashtag #rendecumplida.

Some Mexican circles considered it a mockery of the Mexican president. However, we are facing the mixture of the peculiar style of a famous and popular tweet in Spain, for its humor and sour milk, and the little respect that the Mexican government has in wide international circles. 

The contempt is justified because it is a shame that the Mexican institutions did not sanction Moreira for indebtedness to Coahuila -his state- for 36 billion pesos, while in Spain he was arrested for the irregular transfer of only three and a half million pesos.

The Moreira saga has a disconcerting angle. Alejandro Gutiérrez, correspondent of Proceso in Madrid, wrote in number 2046 of the magazine that the legal defense of Moreira is in the hands of "lawyer Manuel Ollé", a lawyer close to the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón and, like him, famous for the defense of human rights in the world.

As it was the only Mexican media that included that angle, I telephoned Alejandro who confirmed to me that Spanish anti-corruption prosecutors assured him privately that Moreira's first choice was Garzón, who suggested Ollé. Alejandro also clarified that sources close to Ollé say that he will appear to defend Moreira next Friday 

It would be a pity to confirm that Moreira is judicially defended by a lawyer from the circle of Baltasar Garzón who, in September 2015, held in Buenos Aires the thesis that universal justice must include "aggression to the environment and financial and economic illicit" . And Moreira is a politician who gives off the corrupt stench; that in the best of scenarios he ignored  the face of terrible human rights violations committed in Coahuila, and that, finally, he is a standard bearer of the renowned Mexican impunity. 

When they asked Enrique Peña Nieto for his opinion on the Moreira case, he replied that he could not "say anything [...] because he did not [have] information". "We have to wait," he said. Something similar said several priistas hierarchies.

And how long do we have to wait, Mr. President, for your government to begin to put in jail the officials who loot budgets or deliver inflated contracts to favored businessmen?

Is there a date for the National Electoral Institute to seriously consider the corruption of the parties? Do you know when the Administrative Litigation Courts will stop urban plundering?
 The lack of precise answers on the part of the Mexican State makes foreign judges who persecute corrupt Mexicans so admirable.

Fortunately, they ignored the call to wait. [end]