Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is defending his decision to publicize a New York Times reporter’s phone number during a press conference on Thursday.
López Obrador argued that Mexico’s law on the Protection of Personal Data does not apply to him as the president.
The issue began when the Times published a story from Mexico bureau chief Natalie Kitroeff about how American law enforcement had allegedly spent years investigating potential links between drug traffickers and people close to the Mexican president.
Before publishing the article, Kitroeff sent a letter to López Obrador’s spokesperson requesting a comment. The letter contained her phone number.
During his daily press conference on Thursday, López Obrador put the unredacted letter on a large screen and read it out loud — including the number.
The New York Times promptly condemned the president’s actions.
In response to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico’s press conference this morning: pic.twitter.com/C0NI8aMb4F
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) February 22, 2024
“This is a troubling and unacceptable tactic from a world leader at a time when threats against journalists are on the rise,” the newspaper wrote in a statement posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
López Obrador remained unapologetic about his actions on Friday.
The Associated Press reports, “President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that ‘the political and moral authority of the president of Mexico is above that law,’ adding that ‘no law can be above the sublime principle of liberty.’ He also accused U.S. media of acting with ‘arrogance.’”
“He also downplayed the risks to journalists, saying it was ‘an old song that you (reporters) use to discredit our government,’ and suggesting the Times reporter should just ‘change her telephone number,’” the report continued.
