On Tuesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rebuked comments made by officials from the U.S. State Department regarding recent protests in Mexico, alleging that the department had interfered in his country’s internal matters.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of Mexicans participated in street demonstrations to oppose measures advocated by Lopez Obrador this month, which aimed to reduce the independence of the country’s electoral authority. The opposition criticized the move as a menace to democracy, Reuters has reported.

Officials from the State Department applauded what they characterized as the political discourse surrounding the electoral reform, eliciting a curt reaction from Lopez Obrador. He asserted that the department “interferes in matters that are not its concern” consistently.

On Monday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price issued a statement saying that a “great debate on electoral reforms” reflected Mexico’s “vibrant democracy.”

Written by staff