MEXICAN CONSUL IN BROWNSVILLE FACES HARSH CRITICISM

By Juan Montoya
The ruling by a federal magistrate in the southern U.S. Southern District federal court that the family of Juan Pablo Perez Santillan – the Matamoros man who was gunned down by agents firing from across the Rio Grande – could choose the legal representative they wanted without interference form the Mexican Consul in Brownsville Rodolfo Quilantán Arenas, has renewed criticism of the Mexican official.
News reports from Matamoros indicate that the family has secured an order from a sate judge ordering Quilantán and Brownsville attorney Ed Stapleton not to approach the family of the slain man.
Both Quilantán and Stapleton have stated that there was nothing illegal or immoral in their efforts to secure the wife an relatives for the dead man. Quilantán, thought a consulate spokesman, said he had acted "in good faith" to refer the family to Stapleton, a seasoned attorney from Brownsville.
Quilantán's denial that his actions were inappropriate and that he didn't try to pressure the family to hire Stapleton to get some form of compensation from the U.S. government and not to pursue criminal charges against were buttressed by a statement from the Mexican Consulate in Mexico City.
 "We deny the accusations," said Ricardo Alday González, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy of Mexico in the United States told the media. “There was no pressure, what communication there was was meant to inform the family so they would know that the person they were contracting to represent them if facing various federal charges."

In a previous missive, the embassy refers to Austin Attorney Marc G. Rosenthal by saying that "In their exercise of their right to chose their legal representation, the family of (Juan Pablo) Pérez Santillán elected to contract Rosenthal, even after (Quilantán) told them that Rosenthal was facing federal charges."

However, various Mexican media such as Grupo Reforma have said the charge by the family against Quilantán indicates that the consul wanted them to hire Stapleton even though he counseled them against seeking criminal charges against the agents who are alleged to have killed their son and instead to settle for some sort of compensation.

The women – the mother and wife of the slain man – also allege that Quilantán made an effort to prevent them from changing their lawyer.

On Aug. 2, they presented a complaint before the Fiscalía de Partes, where they ask the Ministerio Público to order Quilantán and Stapleton or any other employee of the consulate from contacting them.

Through his spokesman, Quilantán said his duty as consul is to be familiar with any investigation occurring in the United States and to "facilitate" communication with Mexican federal agencies in case they require assistance.

(To add fuel to the fire, on Aug. 18, Quilantán refused to be interviewed by a reporter in Matamoros and crushed his digital audio recorder by raising his car's electric windows and broke it when the newsman tried to question him on the riding number of deported Mexican nationals crowding northern Mexico cities.)

Quilantán's actions have fueled a fresh spate of harsh criticism from the Mexican media who charge that he has been uncommunicative on what actions he is taking to assist the rising tide of Mexican citizens deported to Mexico by the U.S. government and who end up on the northern Mexican border cities such as Matamoros and Reynosa, often without any resources at their disposal.

His role in the Stapleton-Rosenthal spat incurred the wrath of local representatives of Gerardo Acevedo Danache, vice-president for International Affairs of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism in Matamoros (CANACO). Acevedo Danache condemned Quilantán's interference in the matter and said he had no business pressuring the family to choose one attorney over another.

"This heightens suspicions of special treatment in legal matters which affect Mexican citizens in the United States," he added.

CANACO representatives in Matamoros have gone as far as to invite Quilantán to meet with them to discuss diverse matters, going as far as trying to arrange a meeting with him at the midway point between the international bridge which the consul did not attend.