Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced he would write to U.S. President Joe Biden to complain about his administration financing non-governmental organizations that have been critical of his government.
The politician made the announcement during one of his morning news conferences. He pointed out that his Foreign Relations Ministry had just sent a diplomatic notice about the issue and added he was personally drafting a letter for Biden about it.
The diplomatic note is the second one Mexico’s diplomats have sent on the same issue. During the news conference, officials said the first diplomatic note had been sent in 2021. The message went unanswered.
Lopez Obrador complained that the Department of State has helped finance the group Mexicanos Contra La Corrupcion y La Impunidad (Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity) through USAID programs.
The NGO gained much notoriety in recent years for compiling reports and statistics about crime and corruption in the country. According to MCCI, when Lopez Obrador was trying to win the presidency, he would quote their reports. However, now that his party is in office, he considers the NGO part of the opposition for questioning high-level corruption, contract rigging, and other alleged improprieties reported by them.
Earlier in the week, Mexico’s Financial Crimes Unit (UIF) released information that the U.S. government has reportedly sent more than 97 million pesos (approximately $5 million USD) to MCCI since 2018. Officials also singled out several U.S. private donors, including funds from the Rockefeller and Ford foundations.
During that information release, Lopez Obrador and his staff also divulged the personal tax and financial information of private citizens who had donated to MCCI. The group claimed that in doing so, Lopez Obrador broke Mexican law.
Lopez Obrador claimed he considers the U.S. government’s support for MCCI a violation of his nation’s sovereignty and possible election interference.
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.