Miami Herald columnist and author Andres Oppenheimer says “Mexico’s excuses for inviting Putin and Maduro for Sheinbaum’s inauguration are ridiculous”.
Mexico’s invitation to autocrats Vladimir Putin of Russia and Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela for President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum’s Oct. 1 inauguration is far from a routine diplomatic custom, as the Mexican government claims. It is an open endorsement of two of the world’s most brutal dictators.
The news of Mexico’s invitation to Putin was first reported by Russian media last week. The Izvestia newspaper quoted an official at Mexico’s Embassy in Moscow as saying that the “invitation to take part in the inauguration of President Sheinbaum was sent to President Putin.” It added that the Russian president would decide whether to attend or send a high-ranking official in his place.
It was a shocking revelation because Putin has a warrant for his arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, including the illegal deportation of hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia after his 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
International law experts agree that Mexico, as a member of the ICC, would have to arrest Putin if he set foot in its territory. But Mexico’s leftist populist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said that Mexico “cannot do that,” and that “it wouldn’t be proper” for his country to arrest the Russian leader if he accepts the invitation.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER IN THE MIAMI HERALD
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