Morning Presidential Press Conference – Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Summary of the main points in President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s daily press conference

In the section “It wasn’t me who said it”, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador showed two voter preference polls that place Morena with a more than 30-point lead in the 2024 presidential elections. In this context, The President reiterated that there is no reason to attack the opposition, because, he pointed out, there is no political factor that can slow down, stop, or defeat the transformation. With this in mind, he called on his supporters not to succumb to provocations, in the face of the manipulation campaigns promoted by his adversaries.

In the section Who is Who in the Lies, it was reported that:
-The President’s adversaries are in synch in raising the specter of an imaginary magnicide against opposition presidential hopeful Xóchitl Gálvez. The discourse repeated by the President’s adversaries is to blame him for any possible attempt on the life of the PAN legislator.
-A plane was not stolen from the Mexico City International Airport (AICM); it is under the custody of the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) as part of a criminal investigation.

Minister of Security and Citizen Protection Rosa Icela Rodríguez reported that during the trilateral meeting with the United States and Canada, it was made clear that Mexico addresses the region’s problems, such as migration, arms trafficking, and the drug trade, with respect for each nation’s sovereignty.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena explained that since the end of Title 42 in the United States, migration flows have dropped 50%. In relation to the installation of buoys in the Rio Grande, she announced that two diplomatic notes have been sent to the US State Department to denounce the violation of international treaties by the governor of Texas. She also reported that the United States will contribute US$40 million to strengthen the well-being programs in El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, and Cuba.

Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said that Washington has recognized the serious problem of illegal arms trafficking from the United States to Mexico, and therefore, for the first time, shared its actions against this crime, which increased firearms seizures by 63%. She highlighted Operation Southbound, aimed at dismantling arms trafficking; coordination with prosecutors to increase investigations of arms trafficking networks, and a bipartisan law to provide the Department of Justice with more powers.