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Mexican president lashes out after reports of drug cartel investigations
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador lashed out Thursday at a report that U.S. agents had investigated possible ties between his aides and drug traffickers, in the latest jolt to anti-narcotics cooperation with the United States.
U.S. agents were told by informants that drug groups were in contact with the president’s allies before and after his 2018 election, according to the New York Times — and on one occasion, the aides allegedly received $4 million.
The U.S. government found no direct connection between the president and criminal groups, the Times reported. It never opened a formal probe. “There is no investigation into President López Obrador,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
López Obrador responded Thursday that the charges were false and unsupported by any documentation.
The report came at a delicate moment. López Obrador has been a crucial partner to the Biden administration as it tries to slow irregular migration. U.S. officials are also urging Mexico to crack down on the production of deadly fentanyl.
But earlier this month, the Mexican leader nearly canceled a high-level meeting on fentanyl and migration after other news reports raised questions about alleged drug money in his first presidential campaign in 2006. López Obrador denied those allegations. The Feb. 6 meeting went ahead after President Biden called his Mexican counterpart.
The controversy hasn’t, however, died down. The reports about the unsuccessful 2006 campaign spawned a hashtag #narcopresidente — narco president — which exploded on social media. López Obrador’s opponents have seized on the drug allegations as they try to dislodge his party from office in national elections on June 2. The president’s protégé, former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, has a wide lead in polls.
López Obrador said Thursday that he intended to maintain good relations with Washington — but U.S. agencies would not be allowed to investigate Mexican officials.
“There is cooperation, there has to be,” López Obrador told his daily news conference. “But we won’t accept subordination, or interventionism.”
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