President Pena Nieto Likens Leftist Candidate Lopez Obrador to Venezuela’s Maduro Anthony Esposito - Thomson Reuters
go to original September 1, 2017

Pena Nieto said the rhetoric of Lopez Obrador (L) was "not too far, nor too different from" that of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (La otra opinión)

Update: Presidential Hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Rejects Comparisons to Venezuela (Reuters)

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto likened the front-runner for next year's presidential election to Venezuelan leftist leaders in an interview this week, suggesting the opposition candidate could unleash economic chaos if he wins office.

Former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has led early opinion polls for the 2018 election. Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) earlier this year sought to brand Lopez Obrador's MORENA party an ally of Venezuela after the Venezuelan Embassy suggested it had MORENA's backing.

In an interview with newspaper Excelsior, Pena Nieto said the rhetoric of Lopez Obrador was "not too far, nor too different from" that of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

"I'm not the one who says it. Many voices have said it with a note of concern," said Pena Nieto, who is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election.

"They've said he's very similar, that his method is very similar and they're concerned that down the line that rhetoric triumphs, that down the line Mexico, instead of moving forward as it has for the last 25 years, resembles Venezuela today."

Pena Nieto added that it was up to the Mexican people to decide which candidate they wanted as their next president.

Lopez Obrador dismissed Pena Nieto's comments, saying they were nothing more than political theater meant to scare voters.

Read the rest at Thomson Reuters

Related: Mexican Ex-Politician Ernesto Derbez Says Being Disruptive Means He’s Best Presidential Candidate (EFE)

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