Mexico asks U.S. for answers on #FastandFurious reut.rs/2LeQ4k9
Mexico’s president on Friday urged the United States to shed light on a gun-running sting that caused bilateral friction under the Obama presidency, questioning the behavior of past U.S. administrations for the THIRD time this WEEK.
Roberta Jacobson, a former American ambassador to Mexico appointed under U.S. President Barack Obama, had suggested both governments knew about possible corruption by Garcia Luna in an interview with Mexican magazine Proceso published at the weekend.
Lopez Obrador has used the arrest of Garcia Luna to argue that corruption was rampant in past Mexican governments.
But this week he has also asked whether previous U.S. administrations were complicit by working with Garcia Luna, whose period as minister coincided with “scandal-free” Obama’s first term in office and the final years of George W. Bush.
Critics of Lopez Obrador contend that he has done Trump a favor by raising questions about Garcia Luna as the U.S president prepares to fight a November election against Joe Biden, who was vice president from 2009 to 2017 under Obama.
Allies of Lopez Obrador reject this, saying instead that he is seeking to put pressure on Calderon, a critic of the president who is building a new political party.
“This (diplomatic) note is about domestic political matters,” said Lorenzo Meyer, a historian at the Colegio de Mexico and longtime supporter of the president. “I don’t think he’s given thought about what this means for the United States.”
On Monday, Lopez Obrador said U.S. officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who cooperated with Garcia Luna should be investigated.
The DEA and the CIA declined to comment. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Thursday, Lopez Obrador again asked for U.S. officials to be investigated for their ties to Garcia Luna, saying “cover-ups” during the era were not the work of just “one government.”
