The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, described this Saturday as "very shameful" the fact that he leaked the phone number of his eldest son, José Ramón López Beltrán, on social networks.
"This is the right, this is the conservatives, very hypocritical, very hypocritical, that is the doctrine of conservatism, it is really very shameful that they act that way," the president told local media during his tour of the northern state of Sinaloa. , where he commemorated flag day.
The Mexican ruler thus referred to the complaint that his first-born son made in his X account about the fact that his telephone number had been leaked, which López Beltrán considered "revenge" after his father broadcast the number in the morning conference. by The New York Times correspondent Natalie Kitroeff.
In this regard, López Obrador said that "we are not going to take a step back in the defense of freedom and justice, especially our sovereignty, we are not like the other presidents who allowed the sovereignty of our country to be violated." "It is an independent, free, sovereign country," he stated.
"In relation to slander, to slanderous journalism from the United States, especially from the New York Times (...) I repeat that you have to learn to respect the Government of Mexico and above all the people of Mexico, that you cannot slander , that we do not accept slander, that there is no evidence. Every time they publish a slanderous article there will be a reply, whoever it may be," he expressed.
The controversy arose on Thursday, when the Mexican president exhibited a letter from Kitroeff with his phone and a questionnaire about a United States investigation into alleged bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas Cartel that López Obrador's campaign received in 2018 and which also involved his children.
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The dissemination of the journalist's private information sparked an investigation by the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (Inai), in addition to a statement from The New York Times and criticism from organizations such as the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), who agreed on the risk that this represents in Mexico, one of the countries with the most murders of communicators.
However, the Mexican president dismissed the Inai investigation and defended having disclosed the journalist's data because he assured that there can be no regulation, "there can be no law above the sublime principle that is freedom."
"And my right? And the right to slander? Does she have the right to slander?" he remarked.
In addition to this, this Saturday López Beltrán accused the leak of his phone of "revenge" and reported harassment of his relatives, while saying that the situation not only affected him but also endangered his family and his safety. .
"I do not work as a journalist, much less in the public sector. Therefore, I wish to continue maintaining the privacy of my family and myself until I decide otherwise," he concluded in his publication.
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He recalled that the situation began after the letter that Kitroeff sent to his father, which, he argued, contained "threats and lies" addressed to the president and pointed out that what happened next was a consequence of the journalist's decision to expose in the letter her phone number thinking that López Obrador would respond to her "slander" by calling her.
In addition, he said that the journalist's telephone number was already public on the Internet.
"I urge you to verify and confirm this fact."
Likewise, he stated that the president responded directly to the communicator, without involving his family members, and questioned why they sought revenge by disclosing his phone number.
"What do I have to do with all that?" he asked.
"A tool to intimidate the press"
The organizations Article 19 and Amnesty International (AI) have condemned the disclosure of Kitroeff's personal data.
"The facts correspond to a serious attack on the journalist's rights to freedom of expression and privacy, and seek to intimidate the media," Article 19, which defends press freedom, said in a statement.
The international organization recalled in a statement that this is not the first time that the federal president uses his morning conference to expose a journalist, "whom he has stigmatized as adversaries to his Administration."
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Article 19 expressed concern about the use of public power "as a tool to intimidate the press" and assured that President López Obrador should not justify the dissemination of journalists' personal information either.
For its part, Amnesty International pointed out that revealing journalists' personal data and preventing them from accessing López Obrador's press conference are serious violations of their right to privacy, security and freedom of expression.
"At Amnesty International we stand in solidarity with @Nataliekitro and with the journalists who are prevented from carrying out their informative work," the organization expressed on its X account.
During López Obrador's six-year term (2018-2024), at least 69 journalists have been murdered, according to the organization Propuesta Cívica after the controversy.
With information from EFE,
El Universal
and
Milenio