Blinken ‘Misinformed’/Return Stolen Mexican Art

López Obrador answers Antony Blinken. After US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for greater protection for journalists in Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador answered that Blinken must be “misinformed.” López Obrador went on to say that Blinken’s claims are not true and lamented the murderers of journalists. He said that it is sad that journalists have lost their lives but condemned the interventionism of the US secretary and said it demonstrated the link between Mexican conservatives and the US.

In recent weeks, journalists, families and NGOs have protested the murders of Mexican journalists, a major issue that has not improved under López Obrador’s government. Since 2000, 150 murders of journalists have been documented in the country, possibly related to their work. Of the total, 138 are men and 12 are women. Of these, 47 were registered during the previous term of President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and 30 during López Obrador administration (2018-2024). The journalists killed in Baja California were Lourdes Maldonado, Margarito Martínez, José Luis Gamboa, Roberto Toledo and Heber López.

López Obrador also asked that Blinken explain why the US government was financing the activist group Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), led by Claudio X. Gonzalez. López Obrador has frequently accused MCCI, a group that investigates political corruption, of seeking to destabilize his government with the help of the US, since he says its Agency for International Development funds the group.

Accusations against Austrian government. López Obrador accused the Austrian government of the appropriation of a Mexican cultural artifact and said it and other art should be returned to Mexico. Moctezuma’s crest is on exhibit at the Anthropology Museum of Vienna. “All countries that have stolen Mexican art should return it,” said López Obrador. He added that his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez, had been subjected to an “arrogant attitude” from the Austrian president and that they received a negative answer to their request to have the crest loaned to Mexico. Nonetheless, López Obrador said he will continue to ask for the crest’s return and that the fight would continue, not only with Austria but with all countries that have Mexican art.

Ukraine. Addressing the conflict in Ukraine, López Obrador declared that Mexico’s policy of nonintervention and the self-determination of nations will be followed and respected. “We do not accept that a country invades another, there is no reason to and it is contrary to international law, and it is the policy that Mexico has sustained.”

The possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia has triggered a spike in gas prices but López Obrador said that Mexico has no need to worry because the country has other contracts for gas to mitigate price hikes. He mentioned combustion and hydropower as other forms to generate electric energy. López Obrador added that Mexico does not want conflicts and that it is an advocate for dialogue and peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears poised to launch an invasion of Ukraine and US President Joe Biden has promised hefty sanctions in retaliation, sparking a rise in energy prices worldwide.