•RESIGNATION: The mayor and 12 council members in the city of Macuspana (pop. 165,000), in the Mexican oil producing state of Tabasco, resigned last week after the state’s Congress detected diversions, shortfalls and misuse of federal funds equivalent to more than US 10 million.
•MONEY: The missing funds equal one third of the municipality’s total annual budget and were part of federal resources sent to Macuspana during 2019 and 2020, according to official audits conducted by the finance committee of the Tabasco state’s Congress.
•HOMETOWN: Located just one hour south of the state capital of Villahermosa, Macuspana is the hometown of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The former city officials are all members of the governing Morena party and one of them is the President’s sister in law, Concepción Falcon.
•PRESIDENT: “This is vile journalism”, said President López Obrador on Friday after Mexico City’s Reforma newspaper published a story about the missing funds in its front page. “Reforma is a filthy pamphlet…Imagine if there is not bad faith: giving the front page to something not proven”.
