Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ once as powerful as president, ‘that’s now history’, hails leader in New Year’s address

Lopez Obrador, who took office in December 2018, rose to power with pledges to root out corruption in Mexico.

He hailed his progress toward that goal in a speech on New Year’s Eve at the Palenque ruins in southern Mexico

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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador closed out 2019 recounting his administration's successes in its first year. Photo: AP

Published: 7:21am, 2 Jan 2020Updated: 7:21am, 2 Jan 2020

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared an end to the days of collusion between crime and government, saying in a holiday address there was a time when drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was as powerful as the country’s president.

Lopez Obrador, who took office in December 2018, rose to power with pledges to root out corruption in Mexico. He hailed his progress toward that goal in a speech on New Year’s Eve at the Palenque ruins in southern Mexico.

“There was a time when Guzman Loera was as powerful, or had the influence, that the president had at that time,” said Lopez Obrador. “That made it hard to punish those who had committed crimes. That is now history.”

Last month, Genaro Garcia Luna, a former Mexican government official responsible for public security, was charged in the United States with accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa drug cartel once run by Guzman.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman is escorted by army soldiers in Mexico City, after he was recaptured from breaking out of a maximum security prison. Photo: AP

Lopez Obrador has said Mexico will not investigate former President Felipe Calderon, who led the country at the time. But he added the Mexican government would cooperate with US authorities in the probe of Garcia Luna, who moved to the United States in 2012.