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Mexico’s Lower House Passes Unified Anti-Extortion Law, Sends Bill to Senate

Opposition leaders condemned a last‑minute cut in penalties for officials, prompting scrutiny of the measure in the Senate.

Overview

  • Deputies approved the General Law against Extortion with 456 votes unanimously in general and 339–100–4 in particular, sending the measure to the Senate for review.
  • The law makes extortion prosecutable ex officio and imprescriptible, sets a base sentence of 6 to 15 years that can rise to 25 with 34 aggravating factors, and enables anonymous reports via 089 with prison phone blocking and asset forfeiture to fund victim reparations.
  • A Morena-led reservation lowered penalties for public servants who omit reporting extortion to five to 12 years, down from the 10 to 20 years in the original draft.
  • Opposition parties argued the change benefits corrupt officials, while President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was not informed of the adjustments and would review the rationale.
  • PT and PRI warned that conflicts with harsher state penalties in at least four states could trigger the immediate release of hundreds of people convicted of extortion.