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Cuban Detained in Mexico Challenges Judicial Corruption Allegations

Friday, October 4, 2024 by Mia Dominguez

Néstor Damián Gámez González, a young Cuban national detained in a Mexican prison since June 12, 2023, claims he is incarcerated for standing up to the "Judicial Cartel" in Toluca, State of Mexico. In an audio message sent from prison to CiberCuba, he appeals for assistance from international human rights organizations, asserting that his detention is part of a corrupt system where judges profit from keeping people behind bars.

"This is a business. They (the judges) earn money by having us here (in jail)," Gámez emphasizes, highlighting the lack of legal support for him and others imprisoned. "We have no voice," he states. Motivated by this injustice, he leads the Movement for Justice, Liberty, Due Process, and Human Rights, which aims to inspire fellow inmates to raise their voices against the corruption plaguing the State of Mexico's judicial system.

Gámez further alleges that the municipal police of Toluca orchestrated an attempt on his mother's life, Ana Karelia González, who is currently in hiding out of fear for her safety. He claims this operation was directed by Commander Enrique Heriberto Almazán. According to Gámez, officers "mobilized eleven elements" to "cowardly" assault his mother, who required medical attention following injuries sustained during a large brawl at a courthouse. Despite clear evidence from the incident showing Gámez as a victim rather than an aggressor, Judge Pablo Ortiz González still linked him to the proceedings.

Although Gámez filed for legal protection, which ruled in his favor, the presiding magistrate refused to release him. Gámez believes this was a tactic to buy time to fabricate another arrest warrant, this time for extortion, issued by a family court judge involved in his custody battle over his autistic son. The judge, allegedly in collusion with Judge Pedro Pablo Villalba, is accused by Gámez of procedural fraud for supposedly altering the release date of the legal protection, making it appear as though it was processed on August 18 instead of August 14, 2023.

Following these events, Gámez's case was reopened under another judge, Magistrate Mario Benito Flores Martínez. Gámez was originally accused by his ex-wife of sexual abuse after a violent altercation on April 8, 2023, at the Family Courts in Toluca. The incident gained national attention, airing on Mexican television news. Despite the serious nature of the allegations, preventive detention was imposed, a measure typically reserved for severe cases. Since then, the charges against him have only escalated.

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