Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lashed out against a well-known magazine and an independent journalist over reports about his son abusing a prominent government program for profit. The politician previously criticized the country’s news organizations for trying to favor a “conservative regime.”
An article based on lies, a work of the media mafia, and a hit piece were some of the translated labels used by Lopez Obrador (AMLO) to refer to the article “Sembrando Vida y la Fabrica de Chocolates” (Planting Life and the Chocolate Factory), a joint collaboration between Revista Proceso and Carmen Aristegui, which claims that one of the president’s sons is benefiting from a government program to fund a chocolate venture.
During a recent news conference, AMLO claimed his family was not involved in the project and the property described in the article is one his sons inherited.
Prior to the publication of the article, Lopez Obrador touted his project, Sembrando Vida, as a way to stop illegal immigration and claimed the administration of President Joe Biden agreed to help fund its expansion into Central America. According to AMLO, the program provides a stipend for migrants to plant trees to curb deforestation, fight climate change, promote regional growth, and incentivize poor migrant families into staying in Mexico rather than trekking north.
✅ invertirá en el sur de en el programa Sembrando Vida, en beneficio de 40 mil pequeños agricultores,
✅ Fortalecimiento de grupos de trabajo en la frontera para identificar e interrumpir el flujo de armas desde a , pic.twitter.com/fvgz3mmHyt
— Relaciones Exteriores (@SRE_mx) November 18, 2021
Soon after the publication of the article, a journalist from Proceso posted on Facebook a photograph of a menu during a presidential event which featured Rocio Chocolates, the one allegedly belonging to AMLO’s son.
Carmen Aristegui was previously retaliated against by former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto after she published an expose on a luxurious home that was gifted to him.
In their article, Proceso and Aristegui claim the program has been focusing on the state of Tabasco with the planting of cacao. The publication claims the president’s son, Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran, opened a chocolate company called Rocio and, through a family friend, named Hugo Chavez Ayala as one of the main figures behind the program. The article claimed that under Chavez Ayala’s leadership, poor communities were pressured into planting cacao even though other crops could be easier to develop. The program has also drawn criticism after various publications covered intentional fires to clear forests as part of the Sembrando Vida project.
73,000 hectáreas se han desforestado en México por el programa Sembrando Vida que genera un incentivo para deforestar, dice Andrés Flores del World Resources Institute México.
— Sergio Sarmiento (@SergioSarmiento) November 5, 2021
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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