Mexico’s president suggested Thursday recent claims that a cartel helped fund his first presidential campaign could undermine cooperation with the United States on fighting drug trafficking.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged US authorities to provide proof of the alleged illicit funding — or make an apology.
“How are we going to sit at the table talking about the fight against drugs, if they or one of their institutions is leaking information and harming me? Not me, what I represent,” he told reporters, referring to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to an article by investigative journalist Tim Golden published by the ProPublica news site, US anti-drug agents uncovered “substantial evidence” that cocaine traffickers had funneled around $2 million to Lopez Obrador’s 2006 campaign.
Similar articles were also published by the InSight Crime think tank and the German media group Deutsche Welle.
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Lopez Obrador has rejected the allegations as “slander” and a political attack ahead of presidential elections in June, which he hopes to see his close ally Claudia Sheinbaum win.
According to Golden’s article, based on interviews with US and Mexican officials as well as government documents, traffickers allegedly provided funds in return for a promise that a Lopez Obrador government would facilitate their operations.
The report said that it was unclear whether Lopez Obrador — who narrowly lost the 2006 election — sanctioned or was even aware of the alleged funding.
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Since taking office in 2018, Lopez Obrador has championed a “hugs not bullets” strategy to tackle violent crime at its roots by combating poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than with the army.
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