President López Obrador rejected reports of cartel contributions
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador rejected reports of cartel contributions to his presidential campaign.
López Obrador rejected a series of media reports claiming that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigated whether drug traffickers made contributions to his 2006 presidential campaign.
He rejected the publications, asserting that they are slanderous since the reports lack evidence. Additionally, he stated that the publications are part of this year’s electoral contest in Mexico, where the presidency and federal congress are at stake.
López Obrador has also sharply criticized the United States government and has taken aim at the media outlets that have echoed the information.
“In the case of the United States, the Department of State and agencies have a lot of influence in handling the media, just as they do here. But there is no evidence, they are vile slanderers, even if they reward them as good journalists,” López Obrador said.
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández and two U.S. outlets, ProPublica and Insight Crime, published reports on Tuesday alleging that the DEA investigated claims by drug traffickers for two years asserting they contributed to López Obrador’s campaign.
López Obrador Rejected Reports, Calls for Clarification from the United States
Regarding the alleged investigation, Andrés Manuel López Obrador rejected the purported DEA report; the case reportedly closed due to lack of further evidence and weighing the political cost of meddling in Mexico’s affairs.
The reports cite anonymous DEA sources and claim the money supposedly came from the Sinaloa Cartel. López Obrador rejected the statements and escalated his criticisms of the U.S. government.
This Thursday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador once again rejected those publications and demanded an apology from the Joe Biden administration.
“How are we going to sit at the table talking about the fight against drugs if they or one of their institutions are leaking information and harming me… not me, but what I represent!” exclaimed the president during Thursday’s press conference.
The journalistic reports indicate that close collaborators of López Obrador were allegedly involved in receiving narco bribes.
One of the accused is Nicolás Mollinedo, who during the 2006 campaign was López Obrador’s driver and logistics chief.
Also mentioned is Mauricio Soto Caballero, a businessman and political operative who led an advance team under Mollinedo’s command.
Meanwhile, Xóchitl Gálvez, the presidential candidate of the opposition coalition of PAN, PRI, and PRD, has urged López Obrador to take steps to clarify the accusations, even considering legal action.
Meanwhile, Morena presidential hopeful Claudia Sheinbaum has called the publication a “false news” and stated that it is “dirty politics” from the Mexican opposition.
AMLO reiterated that the journalistic version reports illicit financing of his 2006 campaign without presenting a single piece of evidence.
He commented on the intention and timing of the report’s publication. “In these electoral dates in Mexico, by pure chance? No, here it’s as it was said before, on behalf of whom?” he expressed.
“Esdeke Loret de Mola and the DEA tap phones to listen to conversations…” he said on the presidential morning program.
