San José, Costa Rica.- Today, in the framework of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Government of Mexico signed the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, which was adopted in May 1992 in The Bahamas and entered into force in April 1996.

At the ceremony, OAS Secretary General César Gaviria said that current sophisticated forms of criminality are major threats to the values and principles of societies. "Today the solutions to these problems certainly require sustained actions at the national, regional, and international levels, including decisive international cooperation to investigate criminal activity and prosecute the guilty parties," he added.

Ambassador Gustavo Iruegas, Head of the Delegation of Mexico to the General Assembly, underscored the importance of international legal assistance, calling it "one of the most consistent mechanisms for obtaining evidence in different territories, thereby contributing to investigations, the procurement of justice, and prevention and prosecution of crime."

To date, the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters has been ratified by Canada, the United States, Peru, and Venezuela.

Through the Convention, the States Parties commit to providing mutual assistance in criminal investigations, judgments, and actions regarding offenses being pursued by the requesting state at the time assistance is requested. The Convention applies exclusively to the provision of mutual assistance among States Parties, and its provisions do not give individuals the right to obtain or exclude evidence or to prevent execution of any request for assistance.