Mexican President Offers Political Asylum to Julian Assange

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) offered asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange while praising his work Monday. The move comes soon after Mexico’s Congress passed a law that will restrict and control the work of U.S. agents in that country.

During his morning news conference, AMLO praised Assange–calling him a journalist who deserves a second chance and should be pardoned. Lopez Obrador said that he ordered his foreign relations ministry to file the needed paperwork for the United Kingdom to release him and award political asylum.

AMLO’s spokesman Jesus Ramirez Cuevas said that Mexico’s government asked for an end to Assange’s “torture” and for his release.

The announcement came soon after a U.K. judge refused an extradition request by the U.S. government, the AP reported. Assange is wanted for espionage charges and publishing numerous files from hacked from government agencies.

AMLO’s extradition offer comes soon after his congress and senate passed a law that will limit the activities carried out by foreign agents in Mexico and will control the information they gather and share. The move has been widely criticized as an attempt to keep the DEA and other agencies from targeting corrupt figures with ties to cartels. The passing of that law comes soon after Mexico successfully pressured the U.S. Department of Justice into releasing a former secretary of defense who was charged in a U.S. court for drug trafficking and conspiracy. After the voluntary dismissal, the former general was sent home.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.