CJNG Leader Complains of 'Inhumane' Treatment in Uruguayan Prison

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Gerardo González Valencia

Last week, the defense of Mexican drug lord Gerardo González Valencia issued a habeas corpus arguing that their client was suffering from "inhumane" treatment in prison.

In the complaint, González Valencia detailed that he was not allowed to have visitors and that prison guards did not let him sleep. He also argued that his cell had video camera surveillance 24/7 and that he was not fed properly.

González Valencia suffered from celiac disease, making him unable to eat gluten, and complained that the prison food did not meet his medical needs. The treatments were "illegitimate and similar to torture", he argued.

In February 2020, the extradition of González Valencia from Uruguay to the U.S. was officially confirmed by a Supreme Court in Uruguay, as reported by Borderland Beat. Gonzalez Valencia was a high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and part of Los Cuinis, a clan within the cartel responsible for laundering the CJNG's assets. González Valencia is imprisoned in Uruguay since 2016 for his money laundering activities.

Writ results

Judge Adriana Chamsarián rejected the habeas corpus of González Valencia. The judge considered that there was no evidence that there were "conditions of confinement that violated human dignity", as González Valencia had alleged in the habeas corpus.

Uruguay's Organized Crime prosecutor, Luis Pacheco, asked Chamsarián to dismiss Gonzalez Valencia's proposal, although he recommended that the Ministry of the Interior follow a clear visitation regime. It asked the prison to allow González Valencia's family members to bring him food - something that was previously denied - and that González Valencia not be recorded when attending medical examination.

Authorities fear a prison break

Chamsarián shared Pacheco's position. In her ruling, she explained that although it is true that González Valencia lost many benefits in prison, she concluded that there was no cruel or inhumane treatment and that his prison conditions were justified.

During the habeas corpus process, the Ministry of the Interior asked the judge not to transfer the inmate to court hearings since authorities feared he could escape. For this reason, a videoconference hearing was held. In González Valencia's second hearing, the prosecutor and the judge went to jail to visit him.

In late June 2019, Italian drug trafficker Rocco Morabito escaped from prison in Uruguay. This prison break alarmed Uruguayan authorities, who increased the surveillance of González Valencia fearing he could do the same. The police adjusted González Valencia's imprisonment and transferred him from the headquarters of the Republican Guard penitentiary in Punta de Rieles, Montevideo, a maximum-security facility.

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Further reading: For more information on the case, please visit Gerardo González Valencia's Wikipedia page, which was published by "Morogris" in March 2017. It includes over 90 sources in both Spanish and English.