Actress Kate del Castillo did not arrive at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles to declare about her contacts with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, as requested by the Office of the Attorney General (PGR).
She was expected to arrive today, but since the call to declare is on a voluntary basis, it was her right to refuse to do so.
According to due process in the PGR, the first approach to a prospective witness in an investigation is non-aggressive and the person is invited to declare.
According to the international conventions between Mexico and the United States, the PGR now has to request formally to the Department of Justice the presentation of Del Castillo, since she also holds the U.S. citizenship.
The PGR may also send the questions that it was going to formulate to Del Castillo and, according to the resulting answers that could mean a process against her.
"Perhaps the most difficult part of a declaration is to be careful on to what to respond since a concept or an assessment that may not be binding in a country can be so in the other. It's like going to a two-player tennis match on your own since on the other side you will face both Mexico and the United States," said a consular source, which requested not to be identified, to EL UNIVERSAL.
"In the end, Miss Del Castillo will not be able to dissuade the authority from calling her. She will have to do it eventually because a judge will demand it and to avoid doing it will be to incur in contempt and automatically mean an arrest warrant," the source added.