The most recent corruption case in AMLO’s family circle is related to his cousin, whose company obtained millionaire contracts from Pemex.
MEXICO CITY (Latinus/Carlo Loret de Mola) – Although the fight against corruption and nepotism are pillars of López Obrador’s government, various family members have caused him to be harshly criticized due to the lack of these principles.
The most recent case is that of Felipa Guadalupe Obrador Olán, first cousin of the president, whose company, Litoral Laboratorios Industriales, has been benefited with contracts from Pemex for more than 365 million pesos.
According to information obtained by Latinus through transparency, the company won in 2020, along with other companies, three contracts for 133 million pesos to carry out water analysis, noise assessment, and characterization of hydrocarbons and chemicals in Pemex Exploration and Production facilities.
It is essential to mention that in 2019, the same company won, along with Marinsa de Mexico, a contract for 231 million pesos to introduce chemical products to wells in shallow waters off the Yucatan peninsula, which will expire until 2022.
Litoral Laboratorios Industriales is based in Campeche and specializes in chemical analysis and water and hydrocarbons study. In the last decade, it has provided services to the federal government and Campeche and Tabasco’s states.
According to research by journalist Carlos Loret de Mola, the company has won direct awards with the Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP), Airports and Auxiliary Services, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), and the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (ISSSTE).
It is worth mentioning that during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto, Felipa Obrador’s company benefited from at least 25 contracts. However, unlike those awarded under the present administration, these were with a lower frequency and amounts.
Given this situation, López Obrador said that “the director of Pemex will surely inform” about the case, but insisted that his government will not allow acts of corruption, nepotism or influence by any member of his family.
“I cannot fail the people. Corruption, impunity, influence peddling, cronyism, nepotism, none of these scourges of politics can be allowed. If a family member does something wrong, he should be judged even if he is a child,” he said.
Likewise, the president recalled that in June 2019, he established a memorandum. He promised not to accept “under any circumstances” that any member of his family could do business with the government.
Another representative case of corruption in the family circle has to do with his brother Pío López Obrador -who’s videos were broadcasted- taking money from David León, ex-coordinator of Civil Protection, to contribute to the operations of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) in Chiapas.
Due to those videos, AMLO was harshly criticized by the opposition and by public opinion. The head of the Federal Executive declared in a press conference that he was aware of such videos so that if the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) called him to testify, he would be willing to do so.
However, there is still another case of corruption among the president’s family members, and it involves Concepción Falcón Montejo, wife of Ramiro López Obrador, AMLO’s brother.
In this case, she was identified as a participant in the alleged embezzlement of millions in Macuspana, Tabasco – the municipality where López Obrador is from – which would have caused the resignation of 11 local cabinet officials, among them the mayor of the district, Roberto Villalpando Arias.
The treasury’s embezzlement would have been for more than 200 million pesos between 2019 and 2020, from the deviation of resources corresponding to the Fund of Contributions for Social Infrastructure (FAIS) and the Fund of Contributions for the Strengthening of the Municipalities (Fortamun).
