Lawyer who once defended drug kingpin 'El Chapo' questions critics of her judicial victory
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Of the roughly 2,600 judges elected for the first time by Mexicans earlier this month, Silvia Delgado García received more attention than almost any other because she once helped represent drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán.
That single client in a nearly two decade career as a criminal defense attorney in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, made Delgado standout in the historic June 1 election, name recognition that may have helped her victory formally certified Thursday.
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Washington Post
4 hours ago
- Washington Post
Lawyer who once defended drug kingpin 'El Chapo' questions critics of her judicial victory
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Of the roughly 2,600 judges elected for the first time by Mexicans earlier this month, Silvia Delgado García received more attention than almost any other because she once helped represent drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. That single client in a nearly two decade career as a criminal defense attorney in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, made Delgado standout in the historic June 1 election, name recognition that may have helped her victory formally certified Thursday.
Associated Press
5 hours ago
- Associated Press
Lawyer who once defended drug kingpin 'El Chapo' questions critics of her judicial victory
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — Of the roughly 2,600 judges elected for the first time by Mexicans earlier this month, Silvia Delgado García received more attention than almost any other because she once helped represent drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. That single client in a nearly two decade career as a criminal defense attorney in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, made Delgado standout in the historic June 1 election, name recognition that may have helped her victory formally certified Thursday. Delgado won a spot as a criminal court judge in Ciudad Juarez in the June 1 election. At Thursday's ceremony, Delgado smiled, got emotional and received hugs. Speaking to reporters later, she said it was time for her defense work to stop being described as a 'tie' to the drug lord. She was just doing her job, she said. 'The only thing that we do is a job,' she said. 'The decision to enter in this electoral process was very simple: I wanted to strengthen my career helping the community. I've helped so many here, helping defend.' In 2016, Delgado García was a member of Sinaloa cartel leader Guzmán's legal team when he was temporarily held in a prison in Ciudad Juarez before being extradited to the United States. He was eventually tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. Some critics of electing judges, and a human rights litigation group called Defensorxs, had labeled Delgado García 'high risk' before the vote, because 'she defends alleged drug traffickers.' Hailed as a way to make corrupt judges accountable to the people and clean up Mexico's judiciary by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the historic elections that covered more than 2,600 positions ranging up to the country's Supreme Court, drew only a paltry 13% voter participation. Critics feared it would politicize the judiciary and offer organized crime an easier path to influencing judicial decisions. Mexico's governing Morena party was poised to gain control of the Supreme Court as a majority of the winners had strong ties to the party or were aligned ideologically. On Thursday, Delgado noted that she had been called out for petitioning the court that Guzmán be given a blanket in prison. 'Is it bad that if a person is not accustomed to the cold that he have a blanket?' she asked. 'I have been in the eye of the hurricane for that reason.'
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Fox News
Carville says Dems 'betrayed' working-class voters by not including them in 'too-cool-for-school' coalition
Veteran Democratic Party strategist James Carville warned on Thursday that Democrats need to acknowledge how they took part in the decades-long betrayal of White, working-class voters. Since the Democratic Party's historic loss in November, many have been trying to chart a path forward to reclaiming their coalition. While some have doubled-down on controversial far-left identity politics, some have worked to reclaim working-class men they alienated in recent years, particularly White men. On the Politics War Room podcast, hosts Carville and Al Hunt addressed a comment from a listener, who suggested that rather than being reconciliation, MAGA supporters deserve to be "beaten badly at the voting booth and then told just to suck it up." "Oh God, who doesn't have that instinct?" Carville responded, but nonetheless warned that politics comes down to winning elections, and that means persuading voters. "It is not the most satisfying way, but what in the end are we trying to do? We're trying to do one thing, win elections." He proceeded to warn against the "temptation that says 'I can't believe how godd--n stupid you were." While he said he has no temptation for the "corporate a—wipes" who voted for Trump to become richer, the strategist nicknamed the Ragin' Cajun expressed some sympathy for working-class Whites he says have been betrayed by both parties. "I have an iota of sympathy for somebody whose life hadn't turned out right," he said. "The brilliant thing about MAGA is it gives you an explanation other than yourself of why your life didn't turn out the way you wanted it, and we should say to these people 'We kind of understand what you were trying to say but you were betrayed.'" "Let's also face it, Democrats acted like these people didn't exist alright? They just did, and don't come back and say-We acted like working-class, particularly working-class non-college Whites were not part of our too-cool-for-school group," he continued. "There were some real high-end people that kind of bought in to that s---." He returned to the listener's question and reasserted his point that it's better to reconcile with working-class White voters, even if he understands being frustrated with them. "I can see it, but the best thing to do is not punch him in the mouth but to say, 'You know man I could hear where you're coming from you just got betrayed, and we betrayed you somewhat, and we now have learned our lesson,'" he said.
