Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is defending his resolution to publicize a New York Occasions reporter’s cellphone quantity throughout a press convention on Thursday.
López Obrador argued that Mexico’s regulation on the Safety of Private Knowledge doesn’t apply to him because the president.
The difficulty started when the Occasions printed a narrative from Mexico bureau chief Natalie Kitroeff about how American regulation enforcement had allegedly spent years investigating potential hyperlinks between drug traffickers and other people near the Mexican president.
Earlier than publishing the article, Kitroeff despatched a letter to López Obrador’s spokesperson requesting a remark. The letter contained her cellphone quantity.
Throughout his every day press convention on Thursday, López Obrador put the unredacted letter on a big display and browse it out loud — together with the quantity.
The New York Occasions promptly condemned the president’s actions.
In response to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico’s press convention this morning: pic.twitter.com/C0NI8aMb4F
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) February 22, 2024
“It is a troubling and unacceptable tactic from a world chief at a time when threats in opposition to journalists are on the rise,” the newspaper wrote in a press release posted to X, the platform previously often called Twitter.
López Obrador remained unapologetic about his actions on Friday.
The Associated Press experiences, “President Andrés Manuel López Obrador mentioned that ‘the political and ethical authority of the president of Mexico is above that regulation,’ including that ‘no regulation may be above the elegant precept of liberty.’ He additionally accused U.S. media of performing with ‘vanity.’”
“He additionally downplayed the dangers to journalists, saying it was ‘an previous tune that you just (reporters) use to discredit our authorities,’ and suggesting the Occasions reporter ought to simply ‘change her phone quantity,’” the report continued.
