Posted: 23 Nov 2021 08:55 GMT
The arms companies presented their defense arguments to try to dismiss the litigation initiated in the Federal Court of the District of Massachusetts.
The manufacturers of arms and ammunition of the USA responded this Monday to the demand that the Mexican Government filed before the Federal Court of the District of Massachusetts, as part of the litigation that the Administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador initiated against 11 North American companies, whom he pointed out for negligent practices that fuel violence in the Latin American nation.
On the last day authorized to respond, the US companies presented their defense arguments to dismiss the lawsuit filed on August 4, as confirmed by the legal consultant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) of Mexico, Alejandro Celorio.
“It is part of the ordinary process in litigation“said Celorio when reporting on the response office of the arms and ammunition manufacturers.
In the third chapter, the US companies argue that Mexico “fails to report facts that show that the business practices of the defendants are the ‘immediate cause’ of the injuries caused” by the drug cartels.
Likewise, they state in another subsection that manufacturers “do not have a legal obligation to protect the Mexican Government from Mexican criminals who abuse firearms” in the territory.
Demand from Mexico
For its part, the Mexican government argues that US manufacturers engage in “negligent practices” in the design, advertising and sale of weapons, including the lack of background checks on buyers, the permissibility of multiple arms sales and the refusal to trace the arms sold, which makes it difficult to combat illegal transfer routes.
According to figures from the Mexican Government, they are illegally trafficked annually more than 500,000 weapons from the North American nation that feed “the power of fire” of criminal organizations.
“In 2019 alone, these weapons were responsible for more than 17,000 intentional homicides in Mexico“, pointed out the Latin American Foreign Ministry.
▶ ️ The illicit arms trafficking to Mexico, caused by negligent and illegal acts of arms companies, is responsible for more than 17 thousand intentional homicides in the country (2019) and the loss of 1.5% of the Mexican GDP. This cannot continue. # NoMásTráficoDeArmaspic.twitter.com / kFtepk8THF
– Foreign Relations (@SRE_mx) November 22, 2021
With the filing of this lawsuit, the Mexican Government seeks a financial compensation for damages and that American companies adopt tighter controls in the production, distribution and sale of arms and ammunition.
After the response on Monday, Mexico will present its reply on January 31, 2022 and, subsequently, the arms manufacturers would present a rejoinder before the Federal Court of Massachusetts, no later than February 28 of that same year.
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