The US redoubles the pressure on López Obrador for the sale of weapons, drug trafficking and the protection of journalists

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during a press conference at the National Palace, Presidency of Mexico (EFE/Presidency of Mexico)

Against the backdrop of the controversial absence of Andrés Manuel López Obrador from the Summit of the Americas, which opened this Wednesday in Los Angeles, pressure on the Mexican government has been on the rise this week from different sides of US politics.

On the one hand, two of the most radical Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, charged against the Mexican president for criticizing the veto of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua at the summit, which ultimately caused the absence of López Obrador as well, on which also slipped accusations of collusion with organized crime.

At the same time, from the Democratic flank, 15 congressmen from President Joe Biden's party sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday,

López Obrador's response has been to go on the attack against Cruz and Rubio, demanding proof of their alleged relationship with organized crime, recurring accusations in the constant struggle of Mexican politics, and bringing up the financing of the arms lobby to the Republican party. .

"I summon you to present evidence of what you are saying because I do have evidence that he -referring to Cruz- has been given money by those who are in favor of manufacturing weapons in the US."

Specifically, the Mexican president pointed out that only last year, the National Rifle Association granted around 120,000 dollars to the senator from Texas for his campaign in favor of weapons, a debate in full swing after the latest massacres in the country unleashed by shootings in schools, hospitals and supermarkets.

The issue chosen by López Obrador to counteract criticism from the Republicans also has a national political reading for the president.

Mexico has redoubled its bet against arms trafficking in recent years.

In addition to the insistence of the Foreign Ministry in each of the bilateral meetings, or the mention of the issue by López Obrador in his speech at the UN, the Government sued 11 US companies in August last year for facilitating trafficking illegal.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard himself, present at the Los Angeles summit, also came out against Cruz and Marco's accusations.

“He has always been on the far right,” Ebrard mentioned about the two conservative senators, representatives of the most extreme wing of the Republican party and whipped during the last months of the Biden government.

During the first meeting of foreign ministers in Los Angeles, the Mexican foreign minister described as a "strategic error" the exclusion of the three autocracies from the first summit on US soil since December 1994 in Miami.

Rubio's response, a senator from Florida, came through a message on his social networks: "A president who has harsh words for democratically elected leaders in the United States, but praise for a dictator in Nicaragua,

US Republican Congressmen Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Agencies

There has been no response yet to the Democratic legislators, who collected in their letter the terrifying figures of 145 journalists murdered since 2000. To then directly point out the attitude of López Obrador, who "has frequently denigrated and intimidated independent journalists and activists at daily press conferences.

The Democrats also express their concern about the lack of funding for the Protection Mechanism for journalists after the latest budget cuts.

"Widespread corruption at all levels of government, combined with an insufficient justice system, have led to near-total impunity," the letter harshly states.

The Democrats also recover a recent resolution of the European Parliament in which the Mexican authorities were asked for more protection for journalists and human rights defenders.

The response then from the Mexican government was a statement accusing the MEPs of having joined "like sheep" in the "reactionary" and "coup" strategy of those who are against their government project, the Fourth Transformation.

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