Legendary lawyer Baltasar Garzón to lead Emilio Lozoya's defense in Spain

Baltasar Garzón, the controversial Spanish lawyer whose role in the arrest of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet earned him the respect of the Latin American left, will be Emilio Lozoya's new attorney in Spain, foreshadowing a tough fight over the extradition of the former Pemex CEO back to Mexico.

The news was confirmed on the radio program Ciro Por la Mañana, where it was revealed that the former collaborator of President Enrique Peña Nieto reached an agreement yesterday with the former Spanish judge to handle his accusations of organized crime, bribery and operations with resources of illicit origin.

On Wednesday, Santiago Nieto, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Mexican Treasury, explained during his participation in the morning from the National Palace that his unit filed four complaints with the Attorney General's Office and a notice was given to the Ministry of the Public Function -Mexico's Government internal watchdog- on the case.

"We still have three investigations underway: one that has to do with the acquisition of the shipyard in Spain, which has implied losses for Pemex of up to 50 million euros; the second, the Fertinal case; and the third, related to the Ethylene XXI case. We continue with the integration process, which is in the scope of the Public Prosecutor's Office", the official explained during the morning conference of President López Obrador.

The news of Lozoya's new defender comes a few days after he was admitted to the Navalcarnero prison, from the Malaga penitentiary, where he had been detained since February 12, after the Audiencia Nacional considered that Lozoya had "the intention of evading justice" by carrying a false driver's license.

In addition to being a flight risk, the judge noted in the prison order Lozoya's lack of roots in Spain, "where he arrived only two days ago" from Russia, as well as the seriousness of the crimes for which he is charged, which carry prison sentences of up to 15 years in the Spanish legal system.

Garzón gained international fame twenty years ago when he ordered the arrest and extradition of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He currently heads the law firm ILOCAD SL. (International Legal Organization for Cooperation and Development), based in Madrid, and counts among its defendants former President of Bolivia Evo Morales - in the sedition case promoted by the Bolivian government - and Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks.