Mexico, recognized as one of the most criminogenic countries globally, is under the spotlight once more. This time, the emphasis is on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is embroiled in controversy for allegedly divulging the phone number of a New York Times reporter during a public event. This journalist was probing matters potentially damaging to the president, connected to drug trafficking. In response, Mexico’s data protection authority investigated on Thursday, February 22, whether the president’s actions breached data protection laws.
The New York Times has been investigating President Obrador and his associates for alleged links with drug traffickers, a quest that irked the president. Disclosing the journalist’s phone number in a televised press conference was his method of addressing the newspaper’s probing questions. In Mexico, such disclosure is perilously akin to a death sentence, believing the high number of journalists killed by mafias, with 160 fatalities since 2000.
The National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information, and Protection of Personal Data (INAI) have started an inquiry to ascertain if the president transgressed the established principles of the Mexican Data Protection Law. The New York Times has denounced this action as a dangerous tactic, particularly at a time when threats against journalists are escalating.
This incident has raised alarms regarding the safety of American journalists in Mexico, a country notorious for press dangers, as highlighted by Jan-Albert Hootsen of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The New York Times investigation, released in both English and Spanish, builds on American officials’ findings that imply potential collaborations between cartel operatives and individuals within President Obrador’s circle. The report mentions a pre-election interaction between an Obrador associate and Ismael Zambada, a Sinaloa Cartel leader. President Obrador dismissed these allegations as slander and called for an answer from the American administration, remarking that the United States had initiated no formal investigation against him.
Similarly, an investigation by Tim Golden, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for ProPublica, claimed that the Sinaloa Cartel had contributed $2 million to Obrador’s 2006 campaign. The president slammed these claims as immoral and slanderous, attributing them to political adversaries ahead of the upcoming presidential campaign on June 2.
A cybersecurity expert also revealed a significant data leak affecting over 300 journalists, traced back to a presidential database. Despite President Obrador’s promise of an investigation, he accused his political opponents of orchestrating a “dirty war” ahead of the elections.