AMLO Urges Protesters to Avoid Violence/Defends AG Mertz  

López Obrador urges women not to use violence. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked women who plan to participate in a Women’s Day protest tomorrow not to use violence. He said that the government has information that some protesters are preparing to use a variety of items that could be used for violence. Moreover, López Obrador demanded that opponents of his government not use social movements to discredit his administration, which he said projects an image of Mexico on fire.

March 8 is International Women’s Day and every year, Mexican women celebrate by protesting and marching in the streets. The movement is especially strong in Mexico City and in previous years monuments have been painted with feminist phrases. In Mexico, violence against women is an important and prevailing topic. There are 10 feminicides daily across the country and women suffer from great inequality. According to the International Women’s Day website, the day is “a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

AMLO defends Attorney General after audio leak. López Obrador reiterated his trust in Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero, after a number of audios were leaked on YouTube. In the audios, Gertz Manero can be heard talking to the Control Attorney Juan Ramos López about the case regarding the murder of Gertz Manero’s brother. “Let’s leave the Judicial Power to resolve this matter,” said the president and added that the government does not intervene in these cases. “The autonomy of the attorney general is guaranteed, the attorney and the judicial power do not depend on the president anymore and are independent.”

Gertz Manero is being accused of accessing to the case file of the Supreme Court (SCJN) that is deliberating freeing Alejandra Guadalupe Cuevas Morán, who is accused of the murder of Federico Gertz Manero. The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has not denied the content of the call and said there would be an investigation into the leak. Federico Gertz Manero died in September 2015. Since October 2020, Alejandra Guadalupe Cuevas Morán, his stepdaughter, has been detained as a suspect in the murder. Her son and daughter have since claimed a series of arbitrary and unusual practices in the processing of their mother’s case.