schema:articleBody
| - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday called for an investigation after a video emerged showing his brother receiving campaign cash, saying the aim was to smear his government. The leaked footage from 2015 comes amid a wave of corruption allegations against former presidents and Lopez Obrador opponents Enrique Pena Nieto, Felipe Calderon and Carlos Salinas. "There should be no impunity for anyone. If a relative commits a crime, they must be tried," Lopez Obrador, who swept to power in 2018 vowing an anti-graft drive, told reporters. He said the money received by Pio Lopez Obrador could have been "contributions from the people" for a municipal campaign in the southern state of Chiapas. In Mexico, such donations are legal provided the electoral authorities are informed. The president said he did not know if the money had been declared. "The intention is to damage my government's image, but they are not going to achieve it," said Lopez Obrador, who has himself given prominence to the allegations against his rivals. On Tuesday he showed a video allegedly revealing two former Senate officials linked to conservative opposition National Action Party (PAN) receiving wads of bills as bribes. A slew of corruption claims has emerged during the trial of Emilio Lozoya, a former advisor to Pena Nieto and ex-head of state oil giant PEMEX, who faces graft charges linked to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Lozoya alleges he was ordered by Pena Nieto and former finance minister Luis Videgaray to bribe lawmakers to approve key reforms. Videgaray denies the claim. Lozoya has also alleged that during Calderon's 2006-2012 term in office, an Odebrecht subsidiary was given favorable conditions for the construction of a petrochemical plant, prompting an angry rebuttal from Calderon. Lozoya also said that Carlos Salinas, who was president from 1988 to 1994, lobbied for one of his sons to receive projects from PEMEX. Prosecutors say that Lozoya has also told them that $4.4 million of bribes from Odebrecht were channeled into the presidential campaign that brought Pena Nieto to power in 2012. sem/axm/dr/ft
|