On Thursday, Mexico’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, expressed concern that recent allegations suggesting a cartel supported his initial presidential campaign could jeopardize collaboration with the United States in combating drug trafficking.

Lopez Obrador urged US authorities to substantiate the claimed illicit funding or issue an apology.

“How are we going to sit at the table talking about the fight against drugs, if they or one of their institutions is leaking information and harming me? Not me, what I represent,” he stated, referring to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

An article by investigative journalist Tim Golden, published by ProPublica, disclosed that US anti-drug agents had uncovered “substantial evidence” indicating that cocaine traffickers directed approximately $2 million to Lopez Obrador’s 2006 campaign.

Similar reports were released by InSight Crime and Deutsche Welle, Barron’s reported.

Lopez Obrador has vehemently denied these accusations, labeling them as “slander” and a political maneuver ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in June, where he supports his close ally Claudia Sheinbaum.

Golden’s article, based on interviews with US and Mexican officials and government documents, alleges that traffickers provided funds in exchange for assurances that a Lopez Obrador administration would facilitate their operations.

Written by B.C. Begley