The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, has come out this Friday in defense of the former presidents of Cuba Raúl Castro and Bolivia Evo Morales, questioning the judicial processes opened against both and alluding to the "historic" antecedents of United States interference in the region.
In reference to the case of Raúl Castro, Sheinbaum has asked herself "What sense does it make to accuse a person for something that happened 30 years ago?", in allusion to the charges presented this week by the United States Attorney's Office for the downing in 1996 of two small planes belonging to an opposition group that had violated Cuban airspace, an event in which four people died.
The president has insisted that "there has historically been an interventionist vision from the United States", and has pointed out that Washington has repeatedly resorted to the argument of drug trafficking to justify operations in Latin America, something that, she recalled, even some of its own officials, such as former ambassador to Mexico John Gavin, have admitted.
Sheinbaum has stressed that, from Mexico, there is a willingness to cooperate with the United States, but without compromising national sovereignty. She has emphasized that "we do not want to fight with them and so far in many areas they have been respectful", although she has warned that Washington's "other intention" is "historic".
Addressing the situation of the former president of Bolivia, Sheinbaum recalled that he was already the subject of drug trafficking accusations when he ran for elections "for being an indigenous leader from a coca leaf production area, not cocaine", she pointed out during her usual Friday morning press conference.
The Mexican president has taken the opportunity to vindicate Evo Morales' management, highlighting that during his time at the head of Bolivia, the country registered some of its best recent economic indicators, poverty was reduced, the population's standard of living improved, and state control over natural resources was strengthened.
Currently, Morales remains entrenched in the coca-growing region of Chapare, in the heart of the Cochabamba Tropic, protected by a solid core of followers and disregarding judicial summonses related to a case of alleged human trafficking due to the relationship he maintained with a then-minor at the end of his term, from which a girl was born.
The strong backing that Morales enjoys in that area has so far halted any attempt by the authorities to carry out an operation to arrest him, due to the fear of serious disturbances, even though the new Government, immersed in a deep social crisis, has identified him as a priority target.