Pío López Obrador is now widely known as “the uncomfortable brother” of President Andrés Manuel.
In October 2019, Mexican newspaper REFORMA documented the way in which Pío operated in Chiapas to get 21 mayors to quiet their respective political parties and join Morena in that state.
According to testimonies from leaders of the parties that the councilors left, the brother of the President and the Secretary of Government of Chiapas, Ismael Brito, offered the mayors protection before the Superior State Audit, resources on time and access to credits, if they decided to quit their parties, and join MORENA.
The municipal officials belonged to the PRI, PVEM, and PANAL, which maintains its registry at the state level, as well as to two other local parties Chiapas Unidos and Podemos Mover a Chiapas.
At that time, opposition representatives agreed that the current administration was operating political agreements towards the midterm elections of 2021.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Chiapas, Rutilio Escandón, distanced himself from these efforts and said he was “respectful” of the “recruitment” made by Pío López Obrador, brother of the President, whom he defined as a man who has led the democratic work of Chiapas.
Back then, questioned about his brother Pío’s intervention so that mayors from Chiapas would join Morena, Andrés Manuel López Obrador read a memorandum that he sent on June 13, 2019, in which he states that he does not accept that members of his family manage political procedures.
“Consequently, I reiterate: I do not accept, under any circumstances, that members of my family carry out formalities, procedures or carry out business with the government for their benefit or in favor of other ‘recommended'”, states the document.
“No family member, no one linked to me or my family, can commit any illicit act on my behalf, and they should not do so and they would fall within the sphere of criminal law and would be tried,” AMLO stated.
As published on The Yucatan Times, this Thursday, August 20th, the web portal Latinus released footage that would have been recorded in 2015, in Chiapas, in which Pío López Obrador is observed receiving envelopes with cash from David León, former national coordinator of Civil Protection and recently appointed as head of the new state drug distributor.
