Anabel Hernández: López Obrador "sabía" que el Cartel de Sinaloa financió parte de su campaña

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador describes as slander the reports that claim that the Sinaloa

cartel

financed his presidential

campa

ign in 2006. This Tuesday, several investigative articles were published almost simultaneously in different international media, including Deutsche Velle, in which it is stated that DEA agents, the United States anti-drug office, would have evidence that said

cartel

had delivered between 2 and 4 million dollars to members of the first presidential

campa

ign of drug trafficking, disqualifies the accusations, assures that this type of articles are published due to the electoral processes in Mexico and the United States in 2024 the DEA has to say if it is true This is not true What is the investigation they did what is their evidence but not the DEA the state department did not denounce the media I denounce the government of United States of allowing these immoral practices and contrary to the political ethics that should prevail in all governments in the world.

Let's talk a little more about these investigations. Am calls the information in which it is revealed that American anti-drug agents had evidence as slander and false. substantial evidence that the Sinaloa cartel had funneled millions of dollars into its presidential campaign in 2006, dochevele journalist and writer columnist Anabel Herná

ndez

has done a lot of research in recent years and had the scoop on the story by publishing her report here on dochevele welcome Anabel Qué as they are Good evening Anabel, in your report you refer to the investigation carried out between 2010 and 2011 by the New York prosecutor's office and the anti-drug agency DEA until now secret.

Why is it secret until now and why are you bringing your revelations to light just now? Well, number one, I really think that the last thing the United States government would have wanted is for this information to come to light. They did this investigation in 2010 and 2011 in a very secretive manner. Later, for different reasons, mainly political, they decided to close the case there in the prosecutor's office of the sout

hern

district of New York and well, I came to this story as part of a long-term investigation that began in 2019 investigating the president of the republic and different members very close to his political party who, well, have some connections with the Sinalo Cartel in particular And it is there that starting this investigation that in 2020 I am aware that the United States government had investigated this situation of what had happened in the 2006 presidential campaign And that is when I started searching more information about this investigation I have some details about this I knew uh let's say uh what they had found that there had been this

financi

ng by the Sinaloa cartel of the presidential campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador through two main characters very close to the president of the republic, Nicolás Mollinedo, who was his driver, his shadow, his most trusted man, and another guy called Mauricio Soto, a gentleman who had also worked with Andrés Manuel in the head of government of the Federal District and later also I had collaborated in the 2006 presidential campaign and I was late in publishing because I am publishing now because it took me a long time to investigate, not only to have access to the document of the investigation of the matrix of the investigation of the prosecutor's office in New York this was a part for me it was a part But what I wanted to know as a journalist is if what was in that document had substance was true and what I was able to do is confirm through different sources that it was true let's see The United States Department of Justice, in order to understand this whole story a little, verified that this money was delivered by drug trafficker Arturo Beltrán Leiva alias El Barbas to members of Amlo's campaign team, you name one during that 2006 electoral process on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel The challenge in the case of the United States was not only to overcome political obstacles but also to find witnesses to corroborate the information.

Who are your witnesses? Well, in the case of the United States government, one of its witnesses was a member of the Sinaloa Cartel. Sinaloa, who had been present at those meetings between the cartel and people from nearby Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to forge this

financi

ng, then the prosecution finds the key witness, really. Well, let's imagine a drug trafficker, well, we can intuit that he can say a lot. Well, things that may not be true, what a criminal says does not always have to be true, of course. What does the prosecution do? Find a key witness, who was Mauricio Soto, gentleman.

Mauricio Soto, gentleman, who was part of this entire network that worked with Andrés Manuel. López Obrador, in the head of government of Mexico City, worked in the 2006 campaign. He is the one who confesses directly before the prosecutor's office of the sout

hern

district of New York that indeed this story of the Sinaloa cartel's financing of the campaign had been true. He himself had received from 2s to 4 million dollars in a residence located in Polanco, that is why the operation is called Operation Polanco and that Nicolás Mollinedo, the closest man to the president. At that time he was practically his shadow, was also involved in this triangulation.

What I did explain Explain to me one Explain to me one thing how do you explain that Soto Caballeros is currently a member of the National Congress as a brunette with everything he confessed to the prosecutor's office That is the issue I think that is one of the big questions when Andrés Manuel He gets angry when he says that they are slander Well, I think that more than getting angry and complaining to the United States government, he would first have to call that member of his party to account, a man who worked in the campaign in his Campaign in 2006, 2012 and 2018. and that he call what was present at a conference tomorrow and that Mr.

Mauricio talk about why he confessed what he confessed in the New York prosecutor's office, even why he secretly recorded conversations with Nico, Andrés Manuel's driver, so that he could put him in the trap for calling him a certain way and recording that he also had knowledge and that he had been part of that financing is Mauricio Caballero whom the president should first question in those investigations and the public prop article eh it is recognized that it is not possible to establish Whether López Obrador knew about the alleged illicit financing or not, from what you are telling me, you do not agree with this well, the issue is that I really do not know how far the very prestigious, very prestigious public prop colleague has gone in his investigation, I can only speak From what I investigated and what I can tell you is that the investigation that the prosecutor's office did there and they had also had information that there had been a call supposedly a call This is part of what they investigated is part that they discovered a call between López Obrador and Barbie at a campaign event for Andrés Manuel López Obrador held in Coahuila in June 2006 where he would have thanked her for the financing and where he would have asked her to please, if he came to power he would ask for help from the Cartel. of sinal to pacify the country that is something that is in the investigation of the prosecutor's office Southern District of New York I do not know why the colleague does not mention it I do not know if he did not know it etcetera etcetera this information But in addition to that what I was able to know through my own investigation Beyond the prosecutor's office with direct witnesses of the events of both the Sinaloa Cartel and Andrés Manuel López Obrador's team that participated in the meetings people that I spoke directly with with whom I spoke With whom I asked different questions in On different occasions, well, they confirmed to me that the financing had existed and that López Obrador did know.

Can you briefly tell me a little more about those people? Yes, it is about, I can't say the names, of course, for security reasons. At least one, a very close man, one of the closest operatives to Edgar Valdés Villarreal alias Lavar. I did various interviews with him on this topic, some of which I have recorded, I have the audios in 2021 and later I was able to speak with a member of López Obrador's team in the 2022 I spoke, I had different meetings with him, one of those who was present at one of these meetings held among the cartel sent from the Sinaloa Cartel with Mauricio Soto Caballero and other members close to the campaign team and who confirmed to me that there were indeed I exdo that financing and that Andrés Manuel López Obrador knew it And then very recently I had the opportunity to confirm with a high command of the Sinaloa Cartel who confirmed exactly this to me This is what allows me to finally publish what I have published on the doch beyond the investigation of what the United States government did Anabel Unfortunately we have to leave it there but thank you very much for all this I think it will be a topic that will continue to occupy us Anabel Herná

ndez

Thank you very much With great pleasure see you later