Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sparked controversy over the weekend when he defended a cartel roadblock that intercepted journalists covering one of his events.
Over the weekend, journalists from various outlets were traveling in Sinaloa when they pulled up to a cartel checkpoint featuring eight gunmen clad in military-style uniforms. The journalists were in the region covering the president’s visit.
The journalists released videos of the encounter, which caused controversy in Mexico. The gunmen were using two white SUVs and set makeshift road spikes.
The gunmen stopped the journalists, checked them for weapons, ordered them to take a man to another town, and then allowed them to continue their journey.
When asked about the incident, Lopez Obrador said “no paso nada” or “nothing had happened” and that gunmen guarding highways were not unique to Sinaloa. The politician said they were simply locals trying to keep gunmen out of their towns.
On Sunday, Lopez Obrador trashed news outlets for focusing on the issue to attack him and claimed that, unlike his predecessors, he does not make pacts with drug lords. Lopez Obrador has been harshly criticized in Mexico for his soft approach against cartels.
By Sunday afternoon, Sinaloa authorities revealed that military forces arrested four men at a cartel checkpoint. Authorities were trying to confirm if the gunmen were involved with the stopped journalists.
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.
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