Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum drew harsh criticism this week for a series of comments she made, telling the people not to watch a critical Mexican TV station that consistently reports on the government’s cartel ties.
The issue began during one of Sheinbaum’s news conferences when she was asked about NGO’s criticizing her government, calling members of her party narco-politicians, and that the main TV station promoting those groups was TV Azteca.
“Don’t watch TV Azteca,” she said in a mocking tone, laughing as she said that she was going to propose an award for that station as the biggest liars.
TV Azteca is one of Mexico’s main news stations and has a long history of reporting on corruption. The TV station has been highly critical of Sheinbaum’s government and her party, MORENA. In response to the comments, TV Azteca published a statement accusing Mexico’s government of being a cartel ally and protector.
As Breitbart Texas has reported, the MORENA party made international headlines last month when the U.S. Department of Justice publicly accused the sitting governor of Sinaloa, Ruben Rocha Moya, and nine of his closest officials of working for the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for money and political power. The issue was made worse by Sheinbaum’s fierce opposition to the move, claiming that there was no evidence of Rocha Moya’s wrongdoing. Since then, two of his associates have turned themselves in to U.S. authorities, leading to a media frenzy about the ties between the MORENA government and drug cartels.
An additional source of tension is that TV Azteca is owned by Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas, a man who was once an ally of the MORENA government but has since publicly called out its corruption and become one of its fiercest opponents. Earlier this year, Mexico’s tax service went after Salina’s various businesses in a series of audits that most claimed were a weaponization of government agencies aimed at bankrupting a political opponent.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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