After the reveal of the video that show Guillermo Gutiérrez -who until then was Francisco Domínguez, the governor of Querétaro’s private secretary- receiving millions of pesos in cash -presumably from bribes from Odebrecht- the 4T political opposition decided to reveal, through Carlos Loret de Mola and his media Latinus, a video where de President’s brother, Pío López Obrador, is shown receiving a package containing thousands of pesos.
This revelation was intended, not only to damage the President’s image of honesty, but also to take away the attention from Emilio Lozoya’s revelations, which points towards three former presidents, two former presidential candidates, and toward several Senators. The video seeks to reduce the impact caused by the accusation through equating the two acts, but the differences are clear and go beyond the monetary aspect.
The President has declared that his brother’s case should be thoroughly investigated, and in its case, punished accordingly, which shows a undeniable difference from what has been said by the people involved in the former director of Pemex’s case, who have categorically denied any involvement and have threatened to take the matter to court. On the contrary, in the case of the video revealed by Latinus, one of those involved, David León, has even said that he would voluntarily go to testify to the Prosecutor’s Office.
On his side, the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Santiago Nieto, is already conducting an investigation to assign responsibilities. The instruction must be the same for all, distinctions should not be made between one group and the other, in that sense, the President’s congruence remains unquestionable. Nothing outside the Law, no one above it, even if it is one of my closest collaborators or even my own family. These were the President’s words to assure that everyone knows that he means business; zero corruption and zero impunity, since nothing has harmed our country more than its rulers’ dishonesty.
The above, must also be understood by the ruling party, because if they really want a change, there must be an exemplary sanction in both cases, otherwise, the hope for a real change will end up disappearing in the middle of a lot of empty promises and no action. President López Obrador must not allow the hope for a better country, a corruption-free country, to be taken away by those who believe that everything should remain the same. Today, more than ever, we are facing a historic opportunity, and it should not be missed.
During last Friday’s press conference, that was held in Aguascalientes, the President reiterated that anyone who commits a crime must be punished, no matter it is his son, his brother, his wife, his friend, impunity is over! That message in Aguascalientes had a clear addressee, to whom do you think the President was talking to?
* Arturo Ávila Anaya, IBN/B Analitycs President and National Security Expert by Harvard (NIS).
@ArturoAvila_mx