López Beltrán denies fuel fraud involvement

Reporting and context

Andrés Manuel López Beltrán denied involvement in fuel tax fraud and accused political and media figures of coordinating a campaign against him and his father, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, according to AF Medios. He delivered the response in a video message from Tabasco addressing reports about alleged corruption and links to businessmen associated with fuel investigations.

López Beltrán denied using business partnerships, intermediaries acting as fronts or influence to obtain government contracts. He specifically denied involvement in the businesses of Jorge Amílcar Olán Aparicio, whom he said he had known for years through mutual friends in Tabasco. He also denied knowing that Olán sought public contracts.

AF Medios reported that López Beltrán referred to a statement he issued on July 22, 2024, denying that he had recommended or intervened for any person or company to obtain government contracts or public funding. In the new message, he denied participating in or knowing about fuel tax fraud and denied speaking in person or by telephone with Navy officials about those matters.

He questioned an interview broadcast by TV Azteca with an imprisoned person, saying that person had mentioned him without presenting evidence. López Beltrán accused Ramón Alberto Garza, Ricardo Salinas Pliego and Carlos Loret de Mola, along with other media outlets, of participating in a campaign of slander. AF Medios noted that he supplied no additional documentation in the statement to support those accusations.

López Beltrán said he had initially chosen not to answer repeated reports but now intended to respond directly through this communication channel. He defended the Fourth Transformation political project and attributed the attacks to groups that, in his view, had lost economic and political privileges. Those explanations were his characterization of the dispute.

Original reporting: AF Medios.