In a let­ter to Texas offi­cials, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged a review of the con­vic­tion of Edgar Arias Tamayo, a Mexican cit­i­zen sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed in January 2014. Tamayo was not noti­fied of his right to con­tact the Mexican Consulate, a vio­la­tion of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a treaty that the U.S. has signed and rat­i­fied. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ordered the U.S. to review the con­vic­tions of Tamayo and 50 oth­er Mexican cit­i­zens who had been sen­tenced to death with­out being noti­fied of their rights under the Vienna Convention. No U.S. court has exam­ined the con­sular issues in Tamayo’s case. Kerry’s let­ter warned that exe­cut­ing Tamayo could dam­age U.S.-Mexican rela­tions and hin­der the abil­i­ty of U.S. offi­cials to help American cit­i­zens detained abroad. ​“Our con­sular vis­its help ensure U.S. cit­i­zens detained over­seas have access to food and appro­pri­ate med­ical care, if need­ed, as well as access to legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion,” he said. Eduardo Medina Mora, the Mexican Ambassador to the United States, said, “[T]his issue has become and could con­tin­ue to be a sig­nif­i­cant irri­tant in the rela­tions between our two countries.”

(M. Fernandez, ​“Texas Plan to Execute Mexican May Harm U.S. Ties Abroad, Kerry Says,” New York Times, December 11, 2013). See Foreign Nationals and New Voices. Read DPIC’s report, International Perspectives on the Death Penalty.

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