Asks US for Evidence / US$4.7 Billion in Taxes Paid

Asks US for evidence. Mexico will ask the US for evidence against arrested Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos to assess if the General Attorney’s Office (FGR) should start an investigation, President López Obrador said. “According to the complaint, there are recordings, videos, there is evidence. The same as in the (Genaro) García Luna case. We are going to wait for that evidence,” he said. The Minister of National Defense (SEDENA) in former President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration, Cienfuegos was arrested last week after arriving in the US at the request of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), in what has been the biggest arrest of any Mexican Armed Forces official in history. García Luna, the top cop in former President Felipe Calderón’s administration, is also under arrest in the US accused of having ties to drug cartels. “We are going to request that they allow us to know about these operations of complicity,” López Obrador said.

Waiting for decision on Cienfuegos. A decision is expected tomorrow on whether Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos will receive bail after his arrest in the US, President López Obrador said. “If General Cienfuegos turns out to be responsible, let him face a penalty. If there are more involved and it is proven, let them face penalties,” he said. López Obrador explained that many of the officials involved in the investigation against the former Minister of National Defense (SEDENA) are already in retirement, since the investigation has been ongoing for 14 months. He said the US Department of Justice argues that Cienfuegos shouldn’t have the right to bail because he could escape by taking advantage of his ties “to powerful people in Mexico.”

US$4.7 billion in taxes paid. President López Obrador said that so far in 2020, large companies have paid close to MX$100 billion (US$4.7 billion) in pending taxes to the Treasury (SAT). “Large taxpayers this year have paid off debts close to MX$100 billion. I am talking about big ones (companies),” he noted. The president said that there are several firms, but mentioned only Walmart, which paid over MX$8 billion (US$380 million) to SAT on May 25, and Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA), which paid MX$8.7 billion (US$410 million) on May 29.

Tested for COVID-19 every Tuesday. President López Obrador said that every Tuesday he is tested for COVID-19 and noted that he has not presented any symptoms. He was speaking after Minister of the Navy (SEMAR) Rafael Ojeda tested positive for the virus on the weekend. “I am tested normally every week to be sure, and above all not to infect anyone. I take the test on Tuesdays,” he said and that so far he has done it six or eight times. “I do take care of myself. I keep a healthy distance, that is the main thing and, fortunately, I haven’t had symptoms,” he said. López Obrador stated that Ojeda is in good health. “We were together last Friday because every day in the morning we meet at the security meetings,” he said.

Downplays bad result for Morena. The most important factor in yesterday’s elections in Coahuila and Hidalgo was not who won but that there was a clean and transparent processes with a strong participation of the people, President López Obrador said. “I do not think of that (the results), I think it is a triumph for democracy if people participate, if there are free and fair elections whoever wins,” he responded when asked about the PRI’s rout in Coahuila and in other mayoral races in Hidalgo. The president said the results did not mean defeat for his party, Morena.  

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish