The Mexican government acknowledged that some land grant through the Program of Direct Support to the Field (Procampo) are used for illicit crops, in response to a complaint from a family newspaper that drug traffickers have this government support.
At a press conference secretary (Minister) of Agriculture, Alberto Cardenas, said that the Mexican government is acting within the legal framework to give the 16,803 million pesos (about 1270 million dollars) to benefit 2.7 million farmers.
However, in some cases it is difficult to ensure that the end use of the land is correct, he said.
He reiterated that his ministry will conduct an investigation of Procampo to catch irregularities among those who benefit from the program “no matter which party they may belong to or what public official they are related to.”
The newspaper El Universal published on Tuesday (August 3) that three brothers of former President Vicente Fox (2000-2006), the current governor of Durango, Ismael Hernández, former governors and Fernando Baeza Meléndez (Chihuahua) and sileri Maximiliano Esparza (Durango), among other public officials, had received aid.
They also held that relatives of members of the Sinaloa cartel, the Gulf, Juarez and Millennium have benefited over the years of the program.
Among them were Vincent Niebla Zamba, alias “El Vicentillo” and his sister, Maria Teresa, sons of Ismael “El Mayo” Zamba, leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Humberto Garcia Abrego, brother of Juan Garcia Abrego, who was leader of the cartel Gulf, and Jesus, and Ofelina Aureliano Loeara Guzman, brother of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the Sinaloa cartel.
Cardenas recalled Thursday that in order to receive assistance from Procampo it is required to show that resources are assigned to the planting of food products.
“México admite que tierras subvencionadas son usadas para cultivos ilícitos.” European Pressphoto Agency July 30, 2009.
