Freedom to Investigate / No Request Over Videgaray

AG should feel free. Attorney General Alejandro Gertz has total freedom to investigate people named in accusations by former PEMEX head Emilio Lozoya, President López Obrador said. “The prosecutor is a man with discretion who has the superiority to feel completely free. So, let's wait, let's not get ahead of the investigation,” he said. The president said the Attorney General's Office (FGR) is independent from the executive power of his administration. “For centuries, we had a centralized, authoritarian regime,” he said.

Videgaray not being investigated. The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) is not investigating former Minister Luis Videgaray and others allegedly involved in the Emilio Lozoya affair, President López Obrador said. “(The UIF) has not made any request to the executive. I have no information that they have requested evidence,” he said. The president noted that the investigation into Lozoya’s allegations will take time, although he asked that the process not be delayed. The president said there are 70 people named in the investigation.

Nafin-Odebrecht contract disclosure. President López Obrador said that he has ordered all information on contracts between Nafin and an Odebrecht subsidiary, which was classified as confidential, be disclosed. “All the information is going to be public. We will not cover up for anyone,” he said. The president said a son of former President Miguel De la Madrid was in Nafinsa at the time, and also “the Bank of Mexico governor was in the Treasury and later went to Bancomext when these loans were issued,” he said.

Asks governors to manage wealth fairly. President López Obrador said governors have a legitimate right to request more federal funds to develop local projects but that first they must protect the budget. “We are part of a federal system and we have to handle the wealth of Mexico fairly and honestly. We are not leaving any state without support,” he said after Durango Gov. José Rosas Aispuro asked for more resources to improve the state's infrastructure. Alongside Coahuila Gov. Miguel Ángel Riquelme, the president today held his security cabinet meeting in Torreón where they assessed security in both states and in the La Laguna region.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish