By The Diary
Aug 14, 2024, 3:47 PM EDT
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced on Wednesday that he will send a letter to US President Joe Biden to denounce what he considers interference by the US government in Mexico’s internal affairs.
The decision comes after the revelation that the civil organization Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), known for reporting corruption cases involving officials of the current Mexican government, has received funding from US sources.
During his morning press conference, López Obrador expressed concern about what he called direct U.S. intervention in Mexico’s sovereignty.
“I am going to send a letter to the President of the United States, President Biden, on this issue, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also going to issue a diplomatic note on the same issue because we believe that there is open interference by the United States Government in matters that only pertain to the sovereignty of our country,” the president declared.
Report
The origin of this situation occurred minutes earlier, when Pablo Gómez, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), presented a report detailing the financial resources that MCCI has received since its creation in 2016.
According to Gomez, the organization has raised a total of 502.58 million pesos (26.7 million dollars) through voluntary contributions and tax-deductible donations, of which more than 13 million pesos (690,000 dollars) come from accounts in the United States.
The accusation of interference by López Obrador focuses on the nature of these donations, since MCCI has been one of the main critics of his administration.
The organization has denounced various corruption scandals involving senior officials and members of the president’s family.
Time to make changes
In response to these findings, López Obrador instructed the tax attorney, Grisel Galeano, to, together with the Tax Administration System (SAT), review the legality of the donations received by MCCI.
“We still have time to make some changes, to present legislative initiatives so that campaigns against the interests of the majority of Mexicans are not carried out with the people’s own resources,” said the president.
López Obrador also stressed that when taxes are deducted from these donations, the revenue does not reach the Treasury, affecting the country’s economic development. This situation, according to him, underscores the need to adjust laws to prevent foreign financing from interfering in Mexico’s internal affairs.
Finally, the president recalled that in 2023, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) admitted to having financed MCCI with more than 6 million dollars, a fact that reinforces, according to him, the need to take measures to protect the country’s sovereignty.
With information from EFE.
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