Mexican president rejects Cartel meeting allegations with party officials as slander, foreign interference

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) - President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his ruling party have rallied to defend Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha after Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada revealed that he was going to meet with the governor and Mexican president's ally prior to his arrest in Texas, the US.

President Obrador, also known by his initials AMLO, has backed the governor of his home state and the threshold of the powerful criminal group, saying the accusations could come from conservative and foreign groups.

The powerful leader and founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, was arrested by US agencies in late July in El Paso, Texas, along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of cartel co-founder and former Zambada associate Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

For the past two weeks, there has been widespread speculation about how one of the most wanted men in the United States arrived in Texas, sparking suspicion of a possible deal between the narco leader and the US government.

On August 10, a letter allegedly written by Zambada and shared by his lawyer was published, in which he revealed that he did not voluntarily surrender to the US government and that he was ambushed and kidnapped to be handed over to US security agencies.

In the letter, he also claimed that he was on his way to a meeting with Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya of the ruling Morena party before the Guzman Lopez-arranged ambush.

Governor Rocha Moya denied the accusations and assured that he was not in the state on the day Zambada was arrested. "They lied to him, and if he believed them, he fell into the trap," he said at a press conference the same day the letter became known.

AMLO praised his ally for facing the accusations and said Zambada's comments are driven by "conservative" groups’ intent to undermine his government and party and "ill-accustomed to feeling like they own the world."

Following his comments, AMLO acknowledged that he has a "very good" relationship with the US government and its people, but condemned the accusations as based on interventionist behavior.

"There is this temptation of wanting to be in charge everywhere, to stick their noses everywhere. Well, just remember that Mexico is an independent, free, sovereign country," he said.

On Monday, the Morena governors of 22 out of 32 states in Mexico signed a letter supporting Rocha Moya, asserting that the links between the ruling party politician and the criminal leader are false.