Videos surface of Pío López Obrador receiving money for his brother's[AMLO] campaign

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat TY Gus  Source Source

Videos of the brother of the president Lopez Obrador receiving money for the campaign. Who delivers? The new anti-corruption czar for medicines.... David León.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's insistence on public disclosure of a current fast-spreading corruption scandal could complicate the investigation, raising questions about whether he would do the same if the allegations were against his supporters rather than against opposition figures.

Doubts arose on Thursday after the appearance of a new video in which a man, who is now a high-level official in the López Obrador government, delivers a package of cash to the president's brother in 2015.

Until recently, David León served as director of civil defense and was scheduled to assume the efforts to search for a vaccine against the coronavirus/covid-19 and medical purchases. But after the appearance of the recording, León said that he will not accept the new position "while the situation I am going through is clarified, and so as not to affect" the government.

On his Twitter account, León explained that the video was from five years ago, when he was a private political consultant and did not hold any public office. At that time, he collected "resources among acquaintances for holding assemblies and other activities."

In addition to giving an envelope with about $ 20,000 to Pío López, the president's brother, León talks about giving him a total of about $ 100,000 over the course of several months. In the recording, you can hear how the two men discuss issues such as getting microphones and stages, apparently for the small-scale acts that López Obrador was performing at that time.

It was not clear if any illegality was committed. Private campaign donations are regulated in Mexico, but at the time López Obrador was not a candidate for any public office.

And the figures being discussed were small compared to reports of bribes of tens of millions of dollars that, according to the former director of the Mexican state oil company Pemex, were delivered during the government of the previous president, Enrique Peña Nieto.

The official who made these claims, Emilio Lozoya, was extradited from Spain last month to face money laundering charges and began cooperating with authorities immediately.

Lozoya's testimony leaked this week, and López Obrador appeared to have no regrets. He has said that he wants the population to see the details of the alleged corruption that has so far affected at least three former presidents and more than a dozen other politicians.

But Lozoya's allegations clearly point to López Obrador's two predecessors in the presidency - Peña Nieto and Felipe Calderón - as well as his two opponents in the last elections, Ricardo Anaya and José Antonio Meade. They also focus on the corruption that surrounded a 2013 energy privatization, which the current president always strongly opposed.

Peña Nieto has not publicly commented on the accusations, but the others alluded to have strongly rejected them.

Calderón said the accusations are politically motivated. In a message on his Twitter profile, he noted that the leak of the document confirms that López Obrador is using Lozoya “as an instrument of revenge and political persecution. He is not interested in justice, but in lynching, making ridiculous accusations in my case”.

Lozoya accused Peña Nieto and his closest associates of using bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht to help him win the presidency and then approve the reform of the energy sector that could greatly benefit that firm, among others. For this, the votes of some opposition legislators were bought, he added. Other complaints date back to the previous Calderón administration.

López Obrador did not appear upset by the leak of the testimony and said on Thursday that he wants the public to see a video given by Lozoya to the prosecution that shows opposition politicians stuffing wads of bills into a canvas bag. The recording was leaked that week, but it was unclear who made it.

The leader also said that he wants Mexicans to read Lozoya's full statement on the alleged corruption in previous executives, something that had also been leaked.

The Attorney General's Office promised Wednesday that it will investigate the leaks.

Pressed on whether he would be satisfied if the corruption allegations are made public but those implicated are not prosecuted, López Obrador said that would depend on the prosecutor. "We are not persecuting anyone, what we want is for corruption to end," said López Obrador.

In addition to putting many of the president's rivals on the defensive, over the past month the scandal has diverted attention from the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused more than 58,000 deaths in the country, whose economy is expected to contract by 10. % this year. The scandal and the speculation surrounding it accelerated in July, when Lozoya reached an agreement with Mexican authorities to stop fighting his extradition and cooperate with the investigation. 

The attorney general, Alejandro Gertz Manero, has expressed his discomfort with the number of public statements by López Obrador on the case. Gertz Manero is the first to lead the prosecution after reforms to make it more autonomous. "This really places a lot of importance on how Gertz marks her autonomy from the executive branch," said Maureen Meyer, vice president of programs and director for Mexico and migrant rights at the think tank Washington Office for Latin American Affairs.

In a report published this week, the Washington-based group of experts and activists said that probably the motive for giving the attorney general more autonomy "was precisely to eliminate political influence in criminal investigations.

The prosecution must gather evidence to back up Lozoya's allegations or it will encourage critics who say the investigation is really a way to target political rivals, Meyer added. The constant publication of details of the investigation poses a risk. But if Mexico succeeds in prosecuting a former president, it would be difficult to overestimate its impact. "This would be a clear indication that Mexico is working to turn the page on tolerance for corruption in the country," he said. "But, once again, it has to be based on evidence that can be proven in court."

#Loret Capítulo 12. #ExclusivaLatinus. Los videos del hermano del presidente López Obrador recibiendo dinero para la campaña. ¿Quién entrega? El nuevo zar anticorrupción para las medicinas, David León. @CarlosLoret #LatinusOriginals #InformaciónParaTi https://t.co/ZW0QuUJnft

— Latinus (@latinus_us) August 21, 2020