Mr. López Obrador is pursuing the case in earnest after winning a landslide victory in 2018, as prosecutors bet zero on a $ 3.6 million transfer to a shell company linked to Mr Lozoya, who she said was facilitated by Odebrecht . After fleeing the country, Mr Lozoya was arrested in Spain in February and extradited to Mexico, where he is cooperating. with authorities.
He said the millions distributed to campaign advisers in the direction of Mr Peña Nieto and Mr Videgaray came from bribes paid by Odebrecht, according to the attorney general.
The study could stimulate an administration in dire need of a political victory. Mr López Obrador remains popular here, but his poll numbers have plummeted amid a pandemic that has left more than 53,000 dead and millions out of work. Congress elections will take place next year and the president’s party will have to fight to retain control over the legislature.
But making such explosive accusations public before formal prosecutors are filed comes with its own risks. Mexican prosecutors have a history of using high-profile bungling investigations and using them for political purposes, and if the new revelations are abused or lead nowhere, it could hurt the president in the long run, analysts said.
“It worries at least some of us that the president only wants to win the election and not investigate corruption,” said Esteban Illades, a newspaper columnist. “He absolutely needs a profit because we are on our way to 60,000 dead here in Mexico.”
Mr López Obrador has repeatedly expressed skepticism about the persecution of former presidents, and suggested at a news conference on Wednesday that he seek a referendum before running for Mr Peña Nieto. He also seemed to be playing off the consequences of the accusations.
“If it were just a statement, without evidence, it would have no legal, and I would say, social and moral value,” Mr López Obrador said. ‘There has to be evidence to make it, evidence, witnesses. There’s apparently a video I would like to see, like all Mexicans. ”
Paulina Villegas contributed reporting.
