Mexico’s freedom of information institute, a government agency, announced on Thursday that it would launch an investigation into the president’s public disclosure of a journalist’s personal cellphone number during a national television broadcast. The move has sparked outrage in Mexico, a country known for its high number of journalist fatalities. At least 128 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2006, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The controversy stems from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s decision to read aloud an email from Natalie Kitroeff, The New York Times’s bureau chief for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, during a televised news conference. The email was in relation to an article about U.S. law enforcement officials investigating claims that allies of Mr. López Obrador had ties to drug cartels.
In addition to criticizing Ms. Kitroeff, President López Obrador publicly recited her phone number, a move that has been condemned as a violation of Mexican privacy laws and a threat to journalists’ safety.
Mexico’s National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection, or INAI, stated that its investigation would determine whether Mr. López Obrador had breached Mexican legislation safeguarding personal data. The institute oversees Mexico’s freedom of information system, which was established to promote government transparency and prevent abuses of power.
Mr. López Obrador, whose term ends this year, has a history of clashing with the media and frequently singles out journalists during his morning news conferences.
This incident comes after weeks of attacks on a reporter for ProPublica, who published an article alleging that drug cartels had contributed millions to Mr. López Obrador’s 2006 presidential campaign. The president referred to the reporter, Tim Golden, as a “pawn” and “a mercenary in the service” of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Times’s article also revealed a separate investigation into claims that individuals close to Mr. López Obrador had received millions of dollars from drug cartels during his presidency, which began in 2018.
Instead of engaging with The Times about the American inquiry, the president chose to disclose Ms. Kitroeff’s phone number on national television, a move that is particularly alarming in a country where journalists face harassment and violence.
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