Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday went on a rant against the United States, condemning the Biden administration for lecturing his government on human rights abuses when its own track record has been abysmal.
The leftwing president also slammed the Biden administration for targeting former U.S. President Donald Trump in a political prosecution that he called a “fabrication.”
“Right now, former President Trump is declaring that they are going to arrest him,” López Obrador, also known by his initials AMLO, said during a press conference. “If that were the case…it would be so that his name doesn’t appear on the ballot.”
“I say this because I too have suffered from the fabrication of a crime, when they didn’t want me to run,” López Obrador added. “And this is completely anti-democratic…. Why not allow the people to decide?”
AMLO also dismissed a report on Mexico’s corruption and human rights abuses by saying, “they’re lying,” and added the U.S. “believes it’s the government of the world.”
“It’s not worth getting angry about, that’s just how they are,” Lopez Obrador commented before meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Mexico later on Tuesday. He added the report “is not true, they’re liars.”
Kerry later on in the day praised Lopez Obrador’s leadership.
KERRY: "I want to express my appreciation to President López Obrador. I see a wisdom in his leadership that wants to undo some of the wrongs of the past & help to promote the interests of the people"
—Today AMLO lent credibility to a story saying that Biden sabotaged Nord Stream pic.twitter.com/Z5LrNY3dmZ
— José Díaz Briseño (@diazbriseno) March 21, 2023
“I want to express my appreciation to President López Obrador,” Kerry said. “I see a wisdom in his leadership that wants to undo some of the wrongs of the past & help to promote the interests of the people.”
The president rattled off a list of complaints about the Biden administration’s human rights track record.
“Mexico’s President AMLO says the United States cannot talk about human rights with Julian Assange detained, cartel violence with President Joe Biden bombing the Nord Stream pipeline, or democracy while arresting the leading presidential candidate Donald Trump,” noted Kanekoa on Twitter.
Lopez Obrador also acknowledged the challenges that Mexico has to face to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law.
“As it relates to Mexico, the reported involvement of members of Mexican police, military and other government institutions in serious acts of corruption and unlawful arbitrary killings remain a serious challenge for Mexico and that’s why they were highlighted in our report,” he said.
Mexico’s government may be corrupt. But at least it isn’t arresting former presidents on trumped-up charges.
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OPINION: This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.