World Health Day/Staged Arrests

Celebrating medical staff. Ministry of Health Jorge Alcocer and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador commemorated World Health Day by recognizing the country’s medical personnel. “I begin by recognizing the physical, mental and spiritual dedication of health personnel who work for a healthier country in such an unjust world,” said Alcocer. López Obrador talked about the effort that medical personnel have made in the face of the pandemic and said they have given everything while risking their lives.

Televised arrests. Jenaro Villamil, president of the Public Broadcasting System (SPR), said that what is seen on television in terms of arrests of alleged criminals are “telemontages” and that it is important that people know it. Villamil pointed to the arrest of French citizen Florence Cassez in December 2005 that was subsequently staged by police so it could be filmed, which Villamil said was planned to fool viewers. Earlier in the morning, AMLO accused former presidents Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto of creating similar montages and that deceiving viewers is a form of corruption. López Obrador also said he would ask Televisa for permission to air the video from the alleged arrest of Cassez. The president added that if the innocence of Cassez’s boyfriend at the time, Israel Vallarta, who was arrested with Cassez, is proven, his freedom would be requested. “The Ministry of the Interior, which now has a function that is the defense of human rights, is in charge of this case; if sufficient elements are found to prove his innocence, he is going to request that he be released.” Vallarta was the alleged leader of the kidnapping gang “Los Zodiacos.”

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish