I am not a robot: López Obrador's response to the controversy over greeting Chapo's mother in Sinaloa

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AMLO confirms his meeting with El Chapo's mom 2:37

(CNN Spanish) - The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, appealed to humanism after criticism received for greeting in Badiraguato, Sinaloa, the mother of drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, considered one of the main leaders of the powerful cartel from Sinaloa and who is currently incarcerated in a high security prison in New York.

"I am not a robot. I have feelings, "said the president during his usual morning conference on Monday when asked about a video that circulated on social networks and that shows the moment when López Obrador greets El Chapo's mother.

The incident occurred this Sunday when López Obrador was inspecting the construction of the section of a highway that will connect the town of La Tuna, in Badiraguato, the land of El Chapo, with other municipalities in the state. María Consuelo Loera would have come this far accompanied by one of her son's lawyers.

“Our adversaries are making a scandal; I went to the supervision of a road ... And the road is now under construction in front of a town, La Tuna, the lady lives there ... They told me it was there and that she wanted to greet me and I got out of the truck and greeted her, "said the leader.

López Obrador said that Consuelo Loera, 92, gave him a letter asking him to intervene so that the US government allows him to see his son in prison.

"He told me that he has not seen him in five years, that he does not want to die without seeing him and asked me to help, to manage," said the president, who added that for humanitarian reasons he should be allowed to travel to the United States.

Security analyst Gerardo Rodríguez Sánchez described the event as a provocation to the neighboring northern country, the Mexican Army and its intelligence agencies.

"We know that part of the Chapo family is linked to money laundering from organized crime and that it handles part of the drug production in Badiraguato, Sinaloa," the specialist told CNN.

Political scientist Sergio Aguayo, meanwhile, said on the radio program of Carmen Aristegui, also a CNN presenter, that the president made a mistake with his decision. He even considers that "there is an unwritten truce towards the Sinaloa Cartel by the López Obrador government while they are launching themselves against other more violent cartels, such as that of Jalisco Nueva Generación, that of Santa Rosa de Lima or Unión Tepito."

What Aguayo said contrasts with the failed operation carried out in October last year in Culiacán, Sinaloa to capture one of El Chapo's sons, Ovidio Guzmán López, who faces charges in the United States. for alleged drug trafficking.

Shortly after the fact, the Mexican government released a video showing the moment in which El Chapo's son was detained by Army special forces after locating the house where he was hiding.

• READ: "Stop everything ... I gave myself up": the most shocking moments of the capture of Ovidio Guzmán

The video also shows the clashes between members of the Army and members of the Sinaloa Cartel who on that occasion sought to generate chaos and violence in the city so that they would release him. The government acknowledged, at the time, that it was forced to release the drug trafficker's son to prevent deaths among the civilian population.

Ovidio Guzmán López went on to play an important role in the criminal organization, one of the bloodiest in the country, after the recapture and subsequent extradition of his father to the United States, according to the Treasury Department.

The President of Mexico has said that the best strategy to combat drug-related violence is not to use force but to combat its causes, such as poverty and unemployment, which he alleges have accumulated for years. Although he insists that his government will not allow anyone to violate the law in the country.

AMLO Andrés Manuel López Obrador Chapo Guzmán El Chapo Guzman