Petition Circulating in Mexico on Whether to Put Former Pres
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:10 am
A woman wears a face mask with text reading in Spanish "AMLO, leave already," during a protest demanding the resignation of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Aug. 30, 2020.
A petition is underway in Mexico to decide if a referendum will be held on whether former presidents will go on trial for alleged acts of corruption.
During a news conference Monday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who accused the administrations of his predecessors of being corrupt, said the referendum could be held at the same time as mid-term congressional elections next June.
Lopez Obrador said it is not just a small thing to put former presidents on trial, describing it instead as a historical matter.
Critics accuse Lopez Obrador of using allegations of corruption against former presidents Enrique Pena Nieto and Felipe Calderon to divert attention from his administration's mishandling of efforts to reduce violent crime and the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Emilio Lozoya, a former chief executive of state-run Pemex Oil Company, accused ex-presidents Felipe Calderon and Enrique Pena Nieto of having ties to a bribery scandal.
Calderon denies the allegations and Pena Nieto has not spoken publicly on the accusations.
Meantime, Lozoya is awaiting trial on bribery and money laundering charges.