The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Mexico leader shares private data of critical journalist
Reporter’s phone number revealed by president after New York Times questions his possible cartel links
MEXICO’S president published the phone number of a journalist who investigated his possible links to cartels as he hit out at the “filthy pamphlet” over its reporting.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s tirade, delivered at a televised press conference on Thursday, saw him dismiss the US newspaper as an “embarrassment” while he projected Mexico correspondent Natalie Kitroeff ’s contact details onto a screen assembled behind him. The screen also displayed a list of written questions which Ms Kitroeff had sent him about allegations his aides had received millions of dollars of funding from drug kingpins.
The president read the request for comment out word-for-word, accompanied by sarcastic commentary, to reporters at the Los Pinos presidential palace. Critics warned his actions would encourage cartels to target Ms Kitroeff, allowing them to contact her directly.
Mr López Obrador doubled-down on Friday, batting allegations that he had breached Mexico’s strict data protection laws. He argued that the legislation was not above the “dignity” or “moral and political authority” of the presidency.
questions were based on the contents of a now shelved US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation. They include anonymous claims the president met with leaders of the Sinaloa cartel founded by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán while on the campaign trail before his victory in the 2018 presidential election. It was also reported that two of Mr López Obrador’s aides accepted $4million in return for releasing a leader of the rival Zetas cartel after he won office.
Mr López Obrador, now in the final months of his term and constitutionally barred from running for reelection, denied all the allegations made by the informants.
The allegations do not mark the first time that the 70-year-old Left-wing populist has been linked to drug traffickers, which have long attempted to infiltrate the Mexican state.
A separate investigation by the DEA launched more than a decade ago, first reported on by media outlets last month, unearthed allegations that a powerful drugs cartel leader known as “Barbie” had donated nearly $2million (£1.5million) in cash to Mr López Obrador’s first, unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2006. The investigation was eventually closed without charges being brought.
Mr Lopez Obrador’s attack on
echoed previous verbal assaults he has launched on journalists, including revealing private information about them. criticised his move on social media. “This is a troubling and unacceptable tactic from a world leader at a time when threats against journalists are on the rise,” the media outlet said.
‘This is an unacceptable tactic from a world leader when threats against journalists are on the rise’
Experts warned his actions would increase the danger to journalists in a country where more than 160 have been murdered since 2000, according to local free speech group Article 19.
Jan-Albert Hootsen, the Mexico coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told “Lopez Obrador needlessly and willingly exposed a reporter to an increased risk of threats and harassment in what continues to be the most dangerous country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere.”
Mr Lopez Obrador’s stance towards the cartels has long concerned the United States. Any DEA investigation into senior Mexican officials would require high-level approval in Washington, possibly from Joe Biden.
The White House, however, has tried to avoid antagonising Mexico in recent years, whose co-operation it needs to tackle migration and the flow of drugs into the US.