After a Wikileaks cable informed that U.S. agents had been allowed to interview migrants on Mexican territory using the offices of the national migrants institute, Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM), its current head, Salvador Beltrán del Río, immediately denied this.
Yet Beltrán del Río, who recently took over as head of INM after the hapless Cecilia Romero, found himself in trouble: Not only did Interior Secretary Francisco Blake Mora seem to acknowledge the veracity of the cable by responding that "cooperation" with the U.S. in matters of "insecurity" exists, and that this also may relate to migrants, but Romero herself confirmed outright shortly thereafter that yes, FBI agents had on a least "a dozen" of occasions interrogated migrants in INM offices.
It is hardly a scandal of enormous proportions, but it makes me wonder:
1) Was Beltrán del Río simply not informed yet of this?
2) Or, is Beltrán del Río simply lying through his teeth?
The replacement of Romero by Beltrán del Río sent hopes to many that the INM would finally have a capable head - he has, for one, a law degree from Harvard - yet this is the second time in a very short period his words are put into question: Just a couple of weeks back, he had a spat with the Mexican human rights commission over the actual numbers of migrants kidnapped in Mexico, where INM operates with a much lower figure than other organizations. Unfortunately, a Harvard degree does not exempt him from being asked the question: Can Beltrán del Río be trusted to tell the truth?
Sorry, but what does a Harvard degree have to do with competence, or honesty? George W. Bush had one, as did Carlos Salinas... and Henry Kissinger taught there.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I think that irony was lost in my garbled writing. While a Harvard master in law should indicate at least a step up on the competence level from Romero, it unfortunately is no guarantee against lying.
ReplyDelete