ATF Whistleblower Translates Univision Interview with Mexican President

Rene Jacquez is one of the ATF agents who decided to blow the whistle on his agency months ago. He has just translated an interview that Univision conducted with Mexican president Felipe Calderon about the gun crimes in Calderon's country. Calderon denies having had any prior knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, an ATF operation that allowed guns to 'walk' into Mexico. There are two very specific things from this interview that should at the very least, cause one to question the premise that says Calderon was unaware.

First, note how Mexico's president makes the case for reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004. He manipulates statistics in order to call for bringing it back. Evidence points to the ATF's Fast and Furious having the same objective. By instructing gun dealers to sell weapons to bad guys, the ATF - and by extension, the Obama administration - could blame the violence on American gun dealers. Why is Calderon still advocating for the gun ban in light of this evidence?

The second red flag is Calderon's admission that Mexico is indeed going after American gun dealers and manufacturers. Again, why would Mexico be doing that in light of what is now known?

Here is Jacquez's post Via CleanupATF via David Codrea:

UNIVISION NEWS TRANSCRIPT

Program: Al Punto

Content: Interview with Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico

Air Date: May 15, 2011
Key
PSC: Pamela Silva Conde
FC: President Felipe Calderon


PSC: Speaking of those bilateral relations, in your last interview with Univision, you said and I quote, “if there wasn't a flow of U.S. weapons to criminals in Mexico, we wouldn't have the death rate we have.” Do you blame the U.S. for the most part for those deaths in Mexico?

FC: I insist that it is a crucial factor. Look, it is clear that after the Assault Weapons Ban, the law banning the sale of assault weapons in the United States, which expired in 2004, the spiral of violence in Mexico began in 2005. In the four years I have been president of Mexico, we have already confiscated or seized more than 100,000 weapons.

PSC: PRESIDENT OBAMA TOLD US IN AN UNIVISION INTERVIEW THAT HE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE “FAST AND FURIOUS” OPERATION, AND THAT YOU ALSO DID NOT KNOW. WHEN DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THIS OPERATION AND IS THERE ALREADY A COUNT OF MEXICAN DEATHS DUE TO “FAST AND FURIOUS”?

FC: Basically I heard about it through the media when this subject started to surface with statements by some members of the ATF. Obviously it is an issue of great concern. This operation has to be investigated in its entirety, but certainly we are unaffiliated with the operation itself. One of those weapons was the one that killed officer Zapata, an American agent in Mexico. So the “would have” does not exist in this case. The fact is that we did not know; what I will continue to support are the actions, within the law and respect that we owe each other as countries, that American agencies take to stop the criminal flow of arms into Mexico. Look I will tell you the truth. In my view the sale of arms is fundamentally a matter of economic interest for those who manufacture and sell guns in the United States. And this interest cannot be put above the lives of thousands of people who are dying due to that indiscriminate flow.

PSC: AND PRECISELY, IS IT TRUE THAT MEXICO HAS HIRED NORTH-AMERICAN LAWYERS TO ANALYZE THE POSSIBILITY OF FILING LAWSUITS AGAINST U.S. FIREARMS MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS? AT WHAT STAGE IS THIS PROCESS?

FC: It is true. We are exploring the possibility of legal action because don’t have other options. We have sometimes “shouted in the desert,” as the Scripture says, for this nonsense to stop. In other words, those thousands of guns sold is pure business that is killing people. So, yes, we are exploring the legal avenues by which we can stop this.

Here is Jacquez in an interview with CBS's Sharyl Attkisson back in March: