President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he trusts the accusations made by the Minister President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), Arturo Zaldívar, about pressure he received to protect relatives of Margarita Zavala, wife of Felipe Calderón, after the fire of the ABC Nursery.
“What the minister of the Court declared is real, I believe him, because he is a righteous people, I consider him a people of integrity,” he said in a morning conference.
The above, after the minister denounced a “state operation” that was undertaken in calderón’s six-year term to protect the family of his wife, whom he pointed out as responsible for the fire of the nursery in Hermosillo, Sonora, where 49 children died.
“Regardless of the time, this does not prescribe”: says @lopezobrador_ that “it is real” what Minister Arturo Zaldívar said about the alleged pressures he received in the Calderón government for the case of the #GuarderiaABC. pic.twitter.com/UiGMCFD1SS
— Animal Politico (@Pajaropolitico) February 24, 2022
López Obrador confessed that he already knew this version, because it is in the file on the case, where he also said that there is the resolution of the ministers who voted in favor of his “folderzo”.
He criticized those who question Zaldivar for remaining silent for 13 years, and said that his testimony had already been released before and that it was in the public domain: “it is not a thing that nothing was known about or why until now.”
Read more: Zaldívar accuses Calderón of “operation” to protect Zavala’s family in ABC case; she replies that it is a “lie”
“I did not know in detail the statement of Minister Zaldivar, but he spoke of this attitude of authority that prevails when there is authoritarianism. Always hide things or try to hide things or protect those close to you. Why do you have to hide things? No way.”
From the National Palace, the president accused that the fire in the ABC Nursery was used for electoral purposes, so that the party of the president in turn – National Action Party (PAN) – won the governorship of Sonora.
Then, he accused the media of being complicit in the electoral use of the event, blaming another party for what happened and weakening it, so that the side of the administration of that time would enter the government.
“And the media, not all, but they acted in complicity, there was no denunciation in the media, they silenced everyone, they even led to the party winning the Governorship in the Presidency, very regrettable, that is, because justice was not done and they took advantage of the misfortune with their political purposes, to get political raja,” he concluded.
On Wednesday, during the presentation of his book 10 years of rights. Jurisprudential autobiography, Arturo Zaldívar accused felipe Calderón’s Interior Secretary, Fernando Gómez Mont, of visiting him in his office to pressure him to change the draft sentence, where he pointed out the responsibilities of IMSS officials and relatives of Margarita Zavala.
Also: Court confirms guilt of officials in ABC case, but orders review and reduction of sentences
He recalled that the case of the ABC Nursery was his “baptism” as a minister and when he took office some of his colleagues tried to surprise him to vote in favor of Calderón’s “authoritarianism”, which he did not accept.
In 2019, Arturo Zaldívar had already declared that he had been pressured by Felipe Calderón, who has denied that he had exerted pressure against him or the Supreme Court.
When the fire occurred in 2009, the children’s stay had as a partner Marcia Matilde Altagracia Gómez del Campo Tonella, Margarita Zavala’s cousin.
The PAN deputy and Calderón’s wife said that the minister of the Court “lies” by assuring that he received pressure from the former president.
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