Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that the American newspaper The New York Times is conducting an investigation into drug trafficking funds that his children and close associates allegedly received for the 2018 presidential election campaign in which he was elected president from Mexico. Although the report was not made public, the president read the questionnaire sent by the media to collect his version. López Obrador denied the allegations, which are based on an investigation by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and called for the matter to be clarified by the government of Joe Biden. “By what right do they investigate a lawfully constituted government?” The President asked, “Are they the government of the world?”
The president explained that the American newspaper had sent a questionnaire to collect its version, a necessary prerequisite before publishing a report, especially when the allegations of the journalistic investigation are serious. However, it is not usual for the questionnaire to be published before the publication of the note and it is usually a resource used by those concerned to protect themselves from disclosed information or to undermine the credibility of the investigations. López Obrador accused the letter's tone of being “threatening and arrogant” and called the media a “dirty pamphlet.” “It’s a shame, there’s no doubt about this kind of journalism.” It’s clearly in decline,” he said.
The questionnaire states that the DEA investigated López Obrador's children and members of his collaboration circle for receiving millions of dollars from organized crime members. In recent weeks, a report published by journalist Tim Golden on the ProPublica portal had already come to light about another DEA investigation that looked into drug financing in the 2006 election campaign, the first time that López Obrador sought the presidency, but that the case was closed because he found no elements to prosecute a crime. The president also discredited that investigation, saying the allegations were false.
This second investigation is based on statements from informants who stated that “close allies of the president met with drug cartels.” “In the end, the investigation was closed after US authorities realized it could provoke a diplomatic conflict with Mexico. The decision was made largely after the Mexican government's response when the United States arrested General Salvador Cienfuegos in 2020,” the first question of the questionnaire states. “Was the president or members of his administration aware of a current investigation?” the newspaper asks.
“In other words, they were afraid of us because they respect Mexico,” the president said. “This is all completely wrong,” he added. López Obrador said he knew nothing about the investigation and reiterated that the information was “false.” “They are fakers, those at the New York Times and those who sent you to prepare the report,” he replied when the medium asked his opinion in the questionnaire. Since the ProPublica investigation, López Obrador has claimed that the DEA was leaking information to weaken his government and noted that there was no evidence that there were ties to his government in the drug trade.
One of the cash shipments, according to reading the questionnaire, was allegedly made by a close friend of Ismael El Mayo Zambada, founder of the Sinaloa Cartel and historical leader along with Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán. The United States charged El Mayo last week with two counts of fentanyl trafficking. “An informant said that one of the officials closest to the president met with Ismael Zambada,” the letter said. López Obrador rejected that the new allegations against El Mayo were a way to put pressure on his government.
Another question concerns the testimony of another informant, who indicates that one of the founders of the Zetas “paid four million dollars to two López Obrador allies, an official aide and another aide, in the hope of getting out of prison to come.” €. In another excerpt, a third witness asserts that there are videos in which the president's children receive money from the drug trade and that López Obrador's intermediaries received money from organized crime in transfers made during a visit by the president to Sinaloa in March 2020, in which the “meeting with the mother of El Chapo Guzmán”. “You are professional slanderers, world-famous,” the president replied.
López Obrador also denied that bilateral relations with Washington had been affected by the investigation. “There is your answer, we will wait for the report,” he explained. However, he sent a message to the US authorities: “The US government must report now.” In the final minutes of his morning conference on Thursday, the president ironically commented on the allegations against his inner circle with a song by Chico Che: “Wow, how scary, look how I’m shaking.”
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