Mexican President Andres Obrador calls US "liars" over human rights abuse accusations

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lashed out at the US State Department for accusing his administration of alleged human rights abuses. According to Russian news outlet Russia Today, the left-wing Mexican president rejected the accusation hurled at his administration and called its country’s north neighbours “liars”. The aggressive remarks from Obrador came on Tuesday during a press briefing in Oaxaca. The statement came after a State Department report on Monday claimed that there are “credible reports” of unlawful killings and torture of civilians by Mexican authorities.

“It’s not true. They're liars,” Orbador asserted when a reporter asked the Mexican president about the accusation hurled by the country’s American neighbours. “It’s not worth getting angry about,” he added. In the Monday report, the Joe Biden administration also accused the Obrador administration of rampant corruption. The State Department also expressed its concern about the growing crime rates in the country and stated in the report that the low rates of offences getting persecuted are part of the reason for such deplorable crime rate numbers. 

“That’s just how they are, The US believed it’s the government of the world”. Earlier this month, the Mexican president boasted about the fact that his country is safer than the United States. “Mexico is safer than the United States,” he said during a press briefing, “There is no problem with travelling safely around Mexico,” he added. The Tuesday remarks by Obrador came before he is expected to meet John Kerry, the former US Secretary of State and the current climate envoy under Biden’s administration. 

White House responds

After the Mexican president blatantly rejected the claims made by the American report, the United States responded to the assertions made by Orbador. During a press briefing, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel was asked about the remarks made by Obrador. “The reported involvement of members of Mexican police, military and other government institutions in serious acts of corruption and unlawful arbitrary killings remain a serious challenge for Mexico, and that’s why they were highlighted in our report,” Patel stated during a press conference. 

When asked about Obrador’s comment about the US thinking of itself as the world government, the State Department spokesperson rejected such claims. “We have never been ones to indicate that we are the government of the world or some kind of edict like that,” he asserted. "We have never been one to try and imply that we don’t have our own challenges. We don’t sweep things under the rug,” he added.