Highlights: Mexican president accused of receiving funding from Sinaloa cartel during 2006 campaign. According to several testimonies, the candidate was aware of this financing from drug trafficking. In exchange, he allegedly promised to tolerate its criminal operations, while promising to fight against violence. On election night, Andrés Manuel López Obrador himself reportedly called the cartel leader to thank him for his help. AMLO ultimately lost to Felipe Calderón, whose campaign was also partly financed by cartels. The American authorities obtained testimonies from former relatives of AMLO and the cartel.

Mexican president accused of receiving funding from Sinaloa cartel during 2006 campaign

In Mexico, an explosive revelation a few months before the presidential election: the Sinaloa cartel financed the campaign of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2006, American authorities announced on Tuesday. According to several testimonies, the candidate was aware of this financing from drug trafficking. In exchange, he allegedly promised the Sinaloa cartel to tolerate its criminal operations, while promising to fight against violence.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, January 10, 2024. AP - Fernando Llano

By: RFI Follow

Between 2010 and 2011, American justice and the agency responsible for combating drug trafficking in the United States, the DEA, looked into the financing of the first presidential campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. It was 2006. AMLO, as he is nicknamed in Mexico, then ran against Felipe Calderón.

As revealed by

Deutsche Welle

and the ProPublica

information site

, the left-wing candidate would have obtained between 2 and 4 million dollars from the Sinaloa cartel. The American authorities obtained testimonies from former relatives of AMLO and the cartel, these are people who “participated

directly in the delivery, receipt and routing of the money

”, according to

Deutsche Welle

which had access to the documents of the American investigation.

In exchange for this financing, the criminal organization had requested a guarantee to continue its activities and to be able to participate in the appointment of the Attorney General of the Republic if AMLO won the elections. On election night, Andrés Manuel López Obrador himself reportedly called the cartel leader to thank him for his help. AMLO ultimately lost to Felipe Calderón, whose campaign was also partly financed by cartels.

Mexican president accused of receiving funding from Sinaloa cartel during 2006 campaign

Mexican president accused of receiving funding from Sinaloa cartel during 2006 campaign

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