Mexico Denies 'El Chapo' Visited US While on the Run

Mexico's government sought Monday to counter a PR offensive by the world's most infamous drug trafficker, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, vowing to maintain his tough prison conditions and denying claims that the kingpin had sneaked into the U.S. while on the run.

Guzman's relatives and lawyers have given a series of interviews in recent weeks, claiming that the authorities were mistreating him and putting his health at risk by waking him up every hour, including during the middle of the night.

"The government warns that there is an open media strategy by this individual, his defense team and other people," National Security Commissioner Renato Sales told a hastily arranged news conference.

"We will not cede to speculations whose only goal is to divert attention and victimize this person to soften his surveillance," Sales added.

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The official also rejected claims made by a woman identified as one of Guzman's daughters, Rosa Isela Guzman Ortiz, a California resident who was interviewed by The Guardian newspaper.

She told the London-based daily that the drug lord visited relatives in the United States twice while he was on the lam and that he was protected by corrupt Mexican officials.

"These are allegations that lack supporting evidence, whose only goal is to discredit the institutions," Sales said in the first official response to the report.

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The Guardian said it had verified her identity, but the Mexican attorney general's office said it was working to confirm if she is really Guzman's daughter. El Chapo's most recent wife, Emma Coronel, said Rosa Isela is not Guzman's daughter and that no relative of the Sinaloa Cartel leader knows who she is. However, Rosa Isela told The Guardian she is prepared to undergo DNA testing to prove she is El Chapo's daughter.

Prosecutors said they would nevertheless investigate the woman's claims.

Guzman's lawyer said last week that his client's prison conditions have become so unbearable that he now wants to be extradited to the United States as soon as possible.

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