Mexico Political Elite Engulfed by Scandal With Damning Leak
Mexico’s Political Elite Engulfed by Scandal as Document Leaked
(Bloomberg) -- Three former Mexican presidents and over a dozen ex-ministers and legislators were accused of bribery, according to a document attributed to a key witness, in another chapter of a growing corruption scandal that is shaking the country’s political elite.
Former presidents Enrique Pena Nieto, Felipe Calderon and Carlos Salinas de Gortari are among 17 Mexican politicians and a journalist named by Emilio Lozoya, the disgraced ex-head of state oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos, in his purported testimony to Mexican prosecutors, according to a leaked copy of his deposition seen by several media organizations.
While the Attorney General’s office wouldn’t confirm the authenticity of the document, stamped Aug. 11, it opened an investigation into how it was leaked to reporters on Wednesday, including by probing those who had access to the testimony. At least seven of the 17 people mentioned in the document have turned to Twitter to reject the accusations.
Lozoya, who ran Pemex from late 2012 to early 2016 and was part of Pena Nieto’s inner circle, is cooperating with prosecutors after being extradited from Spain last month to face corruption charges. The case has become the widest-reaching graft probe in recent Mexican history and could build support for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s party, which is running on an anti-corruption platform, ahead of legislative and state elections next year.
Lopez Obrador said on Thursday that the document appears to be genuine, without providing details.
“Why do I say it’s authentic? Because many involved have reacted to what it says,” Lopez Obrador said during his daily press conference.
Brazilian Connection
The document cites Lozoya as saying Pena Nieto and his then finance minister Luis Videgaray ordered him to funnel bribes from Brazilian builder Odebrecht SA into the 2012 presidential campaign.
Former Pena Nieto representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Videgaray, now a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, penned a letter he posted on Twitter calling the accusations “false,” “absurd,” and “inconsistent.” Videgaray said he’s willing to speak with the authorities to help clarify the truth.
According to the document, Lozoya said Pena Nieto initially met Marcelo Odebrecht in 2010 during a lunch where the Brazilian magnate promised to help fund his bid for the presidency.
“One of the appeals of Pena Nieto’s candidacy, without a doubt, was the energy reform that generated wide interest from many companies,” the document states. The company went on to pledge $6 million in support that was paid out from November 2012 through March 2014, according to the document.
The pair and their advisers met again during a dinner at the Sao Paulo mansion of the businessman, then CEO of the building giant, once Pena Nieto was president-elect.
Once in power, Videgaray told Lozoya to pay off lawmakers with millions of dollars to help pass the country’s landmark energy reform in 2013 and 2014 while also ordering him to benefit certain companies from his Pemex position, Lozoya said, according to the document. The allegations include depictions of opposition lawmakers hungry for cash to fund political campaigns and even include a Chanel handbag gift worth between $4,000 to $5,000 to a journalist.
Lozoya’s lawyer, Miguel Ontiveros, said in a statement posted on Twitter that the defense isn’t taking responsibility for the document and that the case should be kept in the courts to protect due process.
Lagging Behind
No former Mexican president in modern history has faced corruption charges or been sent to jail. Mexico has lagged behind other Latin American countries in mounting successful cases, previously failing to prosecute bribery allegations that surfaced out of a Brazilian probe of Odebrecht and landed top officials around the region, including presidents, in jail.
Lozoya’s purported testimony also alleged that his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, had benefited Odebrecht while Carlos Salinas, who ruled Mexico from 1988-1994, had allegedly helped companies win contracts.
Calderon accused Lopez Obrador of using Lozoya as an instrument of “vengeance and political persecution.”
“He’s not interested in justice but in a lynching, in my case making ridiculous accusations,” Calderon said of the president in his Twitter account on Wednesday night.
The document did not include proofs of Lozoya’s claims and lawyers have warned the publicity around the case, including comments by Lopez Obrador during his daily press conference, could be undermining the right to a fair trial. Lopez Obrador has been demanding that an alleged video and other evidence in the case be made public.
The president said Thursday he doesn’t think prosecutors leaked the document and so it shouldn’t impact the case’s due process.
It remains to be seen if the scandal could mark the beginning of a wide-ranging, culture-shifting set of indictments like the Carwash probe in Brazil, or if it will remain in the realm of political theater in Mexico. Damning evidence of the country’s corruption in the past has failed to produce convictions by prosecutors who had a reputation for lacking political independence.
Ricardo Anaya, who was cited in the document and led PAN lawmakers in the lower house when the energy reform was passed, said on Twitter on Thursday that he had filed a suit against Lozoya for defamation.
“Truth is on my side,” he said, posting his complaint.
Jose Antonio Meade, a former presidential candidate under the banner of Pena Nieto’s party who was also named in the document, said that Lozoya’s condition as a protected witness should “serve to know the truth, not to accuse without proof those who denounced crimes and helped bring this case to justice.”
“I dedicated my life to build a better country with absolute honor and legality,” Meade said.
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