Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard declared the lawsuit against US arms manufacturers continues

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FILE PHOTO: Mexico's Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard speaks during a U.S.-Mexico High Level Security Dialogue (HLSD) at the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City, Mexico, October 8, 2021. Patrick Semansky/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo: Reuters

“We are moving forward, the response of the arms manufacturers is given in the expected terms, there are no surprises,” said the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Marcelo Ebrard, on Monday, March 14th, after the United States arms manufacturing companies sued by the Mexican government presented their response to the reply made by the federal administration last January.

As part of the lawsuit filed by the Mexican government, which is currently ongoing in the Federal District Court of Boston, Massachusetts, US weapons manufacturers are accused “for their negligent business practices that favor arms trafficking to our country”, the SRE said a statement.

While Secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón endorsed: “We have the necessary elements to win.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the gun shops insist on arguing that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms (PLCAA) law offers them immunities, “even when the criminal acts caused with their weapons have occurred outside the United States.”

On January 31, the legal representation of the Government of Mexico presented the response to the position of the companies.

It states “that the United States Congress, when legislating, does so thinking that the laws only have scope in their territory, and when their intention is to sell those weapons to be used beyond their country, they explicitly state it in the law. Therefore, the Government of Mexico maintains that PLCAA does not offer any immunity to arms companies for damages caused by criminal acts committed with their weapons in Mexico.”

After indicating that it will carry out the corresponding analysis of the response briefs of the defendant companies, the Mexican Foreign Ministry noted that “as expected, the companies individually questioned the capacity of the Government of Mexico to sue in Massachusetts and the link between their negligent actions and the damage caused by their weapons in Mexican territory.”

At the same time, the document stated that although the original procedural calendar provided for its response to be submitted on February 28, “the forcefulness of the legal arguments of the Government of Mexico and the broad support received through briefs from Friends of the Court” forced this extension.

Source: La Jornada

Mexico Daily Post