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| - Spain has extradited a Mexican businessman accused of corruption over the alleged sale of a disused fertilizer plant to state oil company Pemex for nearly half a billion dollars, Mexico said Wednesday. Alonso Ancira, the former head of steel giant Altos Hornos de Mexico, who was arrested in May 2019 on the island of Mallorca, "will face criminal proceedings," Interior Minister Olga Sanchez told reporters. Another key figure in the case, former Pemex chief executive Emilio Lozoya, has also been returned by Spain to Mexico. Lozoya, who led Pemex from 2012 to 2016 and was previously a top advisor to ex-president Enrique Pena Nieto, is accused of authorizing the purchase of the rundown plant for a suspiciously high price. The former oil executive, who is also accused of accepting millions of dollars of bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, has implicated several ex-presidents including Pena Nieto during his trial. Lozoya, who has been given the status of cooperating witness, alleges that Odebrecht bribes were funneled to Pena Nieto's presidential campaign. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a left-wing populist who replaced Pena Nieto in 2018 vowing to tackle deep-rooted political graft, has called for a referendum on whether to prosecute his predecessors. jg-dr/bgs
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