Mexico’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz Manero, has undergone spinal surgery at a clinic in the United States from which he is still recovering. In his place, the special prosecutor Juan Ramos, Gertz’s right-hand man, has been in charge of the office, as confirmed by two FGR sources to EL PAÍS. The official is already back in Mexico, and it is expected that next week he will resume the reins of the institution, the sources have added.
The 83-year-old prosecutor’s health complications explain his absence from the bilateral meetings of the North American Leaders Summit a week ago. The state in which his health is found has remained in the greatest secrecy. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has spoken succinctly this morning about the issue, but minimized its public relevance. “Alejandro Gertz Manero is doing very well, he is doing his job. Well, like everyone, we sometimes need some repair ”, he said in his daily conference. “He is doing very well, he is a good person, a good public servant, and he is working.”
López Obrador did not give more details about the prosecutor’s health. The FGR sources consulted by this newspaper have said that the circle of special prosecutors —second in hierarchy after the attorney general— are aware of the spinal operation, but are unaware of the condition. Juan Ramos, head of the Specialized Prosecutor for Jurisdiction Control, has assumed the reins of the institution, as indicated by the Law of the Attorney General of the Republic. Ramos is a lawyer of all the confidence of Gertz. The attorney general has placed in his hands the most relevant files with the greatest political impact, such as those related to the lawyer Juan Collado, the former director of Pemex Emilio Lozoya and the former presidential legal adviser Julio Scherer. In the event of the definitive absence of the head of the FGR, Ramos would remain in charge until the Senate of the Republic appoints a new prosecutor, in accordance with the law.
Gertz did not participate in the bilateral meetings of senior officials from Mexico and the United States that were part of the program of the Summit of the Three Amigos. At the time, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard hid the real reasons for the absence of the Attorney General. Instead of making it known that Gertz was experiencing health complications, Ebrard told the press that he did not attend because he was not notified in time of the agenda and that the prosecutor had other commitments.
subscribe here to newsletter from EL PAÍS México and receive all the key information on current affairs in this country
