During her regular meeting with journalists, the president reaffirmed her commitment to these changes and explained that although she announced she would present them this Thursday, the Legal Department and all other areas have not yet completed their work, as this is an issue that requires further analysis.
The purpose of the reforms, she commented, is to “strengthen the search and, on the other hand, harden sanctions and create all the conditions for single databases in the country that allow us to address” this and other crimes.
Sheinbaum pointed out that when an unidentified person unfortunately dies, there is no single national database, and when a prosecutor’s office issues a missing person alert in one state, there is no obligation to disseminate it nationwide.
“That obligation doesn’t exist in the law today. It’s mentioned, but minimized; there’s no obligation,” the president said, stating that “issues of this type are the ones we want to make clear who is responsible at the state, federal, or municipal level.”
“Who manages the databases, how they are linked to state and federal intelligence agencies… we must strengthen all this within the framework of the new national intelligence and investigation system,” she asserted.
The governor stated that authorities are also speaking with victims to learn their perspectives and those of their families with the goal of incorporating them into the legislation and “making clear the role of each institution.”
She announced there will be an increase in the budget for the National Search Commission.
“The magnitude of this problem, the attention that the Mexican State must give to this problem, must be taken seriously with the truth, without hiding anything at all,” she emphasized.
“We are strengthening the laws (…),” she added, “because we have to strengthen all available mechanisms to prevent and address the situation and the victims.”
Sheinbaum referred to the case of Teuchitlán, a ranch in that town allegedly used by organized crime. The ranch had been seized by the local Public Prosecutor’s Office last year, but recently the existence of skeletal remains, clothing, and shoes was reported there.
“Let the truth come out about Jalisco and this property in particular, without hiding anything. And let the clarification of responsibilities be established,” she emphasized.
The day before, Attorney General Alejandro Gertz pointed out omissions by the Jalisco State Attorney General’s Office in the Teuchitlán case and revealed that some identifications found there belong to criminals, several of whom have already been arrested.
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