Colombian and Mexican extradition norms will diverge

Subject

Sending high-level criminals to face incarceration in the United States is a perpetual source of controversy in both Colombia and Mexico.

Significance

The Colombian peace process has revived debate over extradition, raising questions of justice, sovereignty and national pride. Meanwhile, the escape of Sinaloa Cartel drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman from a Mexican high-security prison in July gave further weight to the arguments of those in Mexico advocating extradition to the United States.

Impacts

• Prison systems and facilities are unlikely to improve significantly in the short-to-medium-term.
• Mexico will extradite more high-profile cartel members to the United States.
• Colombian paramilitaries are less likely to be extradited if implicated in human rights abuses.
• Colombian guerrillas will not be extradited.