Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is defending his resolution to publicize a New York Instances reporter’s telephone quantity throughout a press convention on Thursday.
López Obrador argued that Mexico’s regulation on the Safety of Private Information doesn’t apply to him because the president.
The difficulty started when the Instances 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 telephone quantity.
Throughout his each 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 Instances 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 generally known as Twitter.
López Obrador remained unapologetic about his actions on Friday.
The Related Press studies, “President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that ‘the political and ethical authority of the president of Mexico is above that regulation,’ including that ‘no regulation could 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“He additionally downplayed the dangers to journalists, saying it was ‘an outdated track that you just (reporters) use to discredit our authorities,’ and suggesting the Instances reporter ought to simply ‘change her phone quantity,’” the report continued.
