A new report by one of Mexico’s top newspapers points to a sophisticated effort by Russian operators to influence the upcoming 2018 Mexican presidential election. The efforts appear to be based on the use of misinformation to create discord within Mexico.
U.S. National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster made the statements during a videotaped speech at the Jamestown Foundation, Mexico’s Reforma reported.
McMaster claimed that interference had been recently seen in Spain during the independence referendum in Catalonia and most recently been seen in the ongoing Mexican presidential election.
Over the summer, Mexican citizens are expected to elect a new president, who will inherit a country with an ever-weakening Peso, as well as the raging spread of cartel violence. Current President Enrique Peña Nieto continues to face an unending wave of corruption scandals–including ties to cartels, a decreasing level of public acceptance, and record-breaking crime statistics.
As Breitbart Texas has reported, Peña Nieto’s party the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) continues to be the target of public corruption investigations and exposes. At the same time, Lopez Obrador most recently made headlines for proposing an amnesty for drug cartels in exchange for peace.
While Reforma does not identify a Russia backed candidate, Radio Free Europe (RFE) points to populist leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the one likely favored by the Kremlin. According to RFE, Lopez Obrador is the candidate who receives positive coverage from Russian state-run news organizations.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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