Failed Magnate Backs Call for Deportation of Fellow Mexicans – Soberanía 116
In episode 116 of Soberanía, hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth open with Claudia Sheinbaum’s last-minute trip to New York for the World Cup final — and the overwhelming reception she received from the Mexican migrant community. The hosts contrast this with the reaction of oligarch Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who responded to video of the welcoming crowd by retweeting a tweet with the text “ICE do your thing,” effectively calling for the agency to target his own compatriots.
Next, they analyze the life sentence handed down to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada — and the death of the opposition’s fever dream that he would “sing” and implicate AMLO, Sheinbaum, or Morena, dashing the hopes of those who spent months insinuating otherwise, including former ambassador Ken Salazar, who peddled the rumor for the grubby purpose of increasing book sales.
The episode then covers the dismantling of the largest fuel-smuggling network in the country, linked to former Baja California governor Ernesto Ruffo Appel, who allegedly defrauded the treasury of over 4 billion pesos. The hosts note the irony of the right-wing opposition immediately crying “political prisoner” while simultaneously launching a new political party whose first major cause is defending an accused gasoline smuggler. The hosts also highlight a scoop from colleague Jesús García: weapons linked to the U.S. State Department have been seized from criminal groups in Tamaulipas, adding yet another chapter to the long history of U.S. arms ending up in cartel hands.
Losers and Haters takes aim at the right-wing echo chamber — from Kenya López Rabadán calling Ruffo a political prisoner to columnist Sergio Sarmiento defending him with the flimsiest of pretexts.
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Mexican Billionaire Salinas Pliego Used Private Spies to Cheat in Court, British Judge Accuses
Salinas Pliego paid Black Cube, a firm of Israeli ex-agents, £1.1M to pose as oil executives and trap his rival’s lawyer into leaking case secrets over drinks.
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The Spanish Left Backs Sheinbaum Against the Threat of Far-Right Interference
At a Madrid rally, PSOE, Sumar and IU deputies and unions called Sheinbaum a ‘beacon of light’ and denounced a ’21st-century Monroe Doctrine.’
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Protesters at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico Demand the Release of Maduro and His Wife
As Maduro and Cilia Flores faced a New York court on ‘narco-terrorism’ charges, Mexico’s Anti-Imperialist Front burned photos of Trump, Vance, and Netanyahu.
