Mexican President Denies Taking Cartel Money for 2018 Election, Demands Answers from U.S.

Mexico
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby

Mexico’s President has once again criticized the U.S. government over alleged investigations into his administration’s ties to drug cartels.

During his morning news conference, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the U.S. government must answer why they were investigating his administration since Mexico is a sovereign country. The demands come as Lopez Obrador displayed a series of questions sent by reporters from the New York Times. The reporters claimed to have various unnamed sources providing them with information about a now-closed investigation into AMLO and his victorious 2018 presidential bid that allegedly had cartel funding.

The story surfaced just weeks after various outlets published stories based on another closed investigation where various witnesses pointed to the Mexican politician having taken money from drug cartels for his failed 2006 presidential bid, Breitbart Texas reported at the time.

During his conference, Lopez Obrador read the email that the Times sent to his spokesman. The Mexican president even shared the author’s cell phone number, which caused some controversy in Mexico.

In the emailed questions, the reporter asked about meetings of Lopez Obrador’s trusted men with the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo Zambada. They also asked about a payment of $4 million from a top leader of Los Zetas in exchange for negotiating his freedom. Another question asked for a response to claims by cartel members of having videos that show AMLO’s children collecting cash from cartel leaders.

The Mexican politician denied the allegations, demanding proof, and claimed that the U.S. outlet was working against him. The topic of cartel financing has garnered much attention in recent weeks as Mexico gets closer to the summer 2024 presidential elections. One of the top topics deals with the worsening cartel violence due to Lopez Obrador’s refusal to fight against drug cartels, claiming to focus on social programs instead — an approach called Abrazos No Balazos. However, the politician’s rivals have publicly accused him of protecting drug cartels for profit.

The New York Times called out Lopez Obrador’s response to the questions in the article and for having leaked the cell phone of their journalist in one of the deadliest countries for news workers in the world.

On Friday morning, Lopez Obrador pushed back, claiming that foreign journalists needed to keep their attitude in check.

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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