Dismisses Morena conflict / Cancer Drug Theft

Won’t meddle in Morena conflict. Questioned on the increasing conflict related to renewing Morena’s leadership, President López Obrador said the political party he founded and the government are very different things. “Morena is one thing and the government is another thing. A party, as the word indicates, is a party. The government includes everything and we have to represent all the people,” he said and noted that he won’t further address on the topic because “this is what my adversaries would like.” After an increasingly harsh dispute that includes fraud allegations against each other, Mario Delgado and Porfirio Muñoz Ledo are still fighting to win election to the party’s board. López Obrador said he won’t meddle in the affair since he has other matters to address, and noted that the transformation of Mexico has to do with the people, and not with one single party.

Investigation into theft of cancer drugs. President López Obrador regretted the theft of almost 38,000 doses of drugs from the Novag Infancia lab facilities, most of them oncological drugs for exclusive use by the public health sector. “Investigations are ongoing and progress is being made. It was hard for us to get those drugs, which we brought from Argentina,” he said and suggested that something strange was behind the theft that was reported by COFEPRIS over the weekend. The president stated that his administration is constantly trying to supply drugs to all health centers and hospitals to treat children with cancer. “We are not inhuman. We are aware of all the suffering of those who don’t have the drugs they need,” he said.

Warns supporters about provocations. President López Obrador asked his supporters not to fall for provocations before the Frena sit-in at the Zocalo square, after clashes were reported over the weekend. “Do not fall into any provocation, do not mess with them. Conservatives in Mexico are very upset and this also applies for the world. Conservatism in the world usually acts the same,” he said regarding the ongoing demonstration by critics of his administration in the Zocalo, the city central square.

Insists on apologies. President López Obrador has again urged Spain to apologize to the indigenous people of Mexico for its rule and looting during its conquest of the country. He also asked that the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue from Mexico City’s landmark Reforma Avenue not be misunderstood, saying the decision was made by the city’s administration. The president noted that it is important to understand what really happened during the colonial period, since there is an “official story, but also the version of the conquered.” On the occasion of Columbus Day, President López Obrador insisted that the Spain monarchy and government and the Vatican must apologize, and highlighted that saying that the conquest civilized America is only “an ideological justification to cover up the imposition and looting (that occurred).”

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish