In a shocking turn of events, the eldest son of Mexico’s president, José Ramón López Beltrán, and Claudia Sheinbaum, the governing party’s presidential candidate, revealed on Saturday that their personal telephone numbers were disseminated on social media. This breach of privacy has allegedly led to them receiving a barrage of threats and insults, a situation both strongly condemned.
The President’s Son and His Allegations
López Beltrán was the first to report the breach, stating on the X platform that he perceived this act as “a kind of vengeance” that potentially places his family in jeopardy. The origin of this serious privacy violation remains unclear. However, López Beltrán claims it began with a letter filled with “threats and lies” aimed at his father, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and his siblings.
Interestingly, this alarming incident transpired only a day after President López Obrador publicized the phone number of Natalie Kitroeff, a reporter for The New York Times. The Times had recently published a story about a U.S. investigation into allegations that President López Obrador had accepted money from drug traffickers, claims the president vehemently denies.
Reactions and Responses
President López Obrador, while visiting the city of Mazatlan, commented on the incident, expressing his disappointment and embarrassment at the actions of those involved. He robustly defended his actions, reiterating his commitment to liberty and justice and refusing to retreat from these principles.
Meanwhile, López Beltrán claimed this was not the first time his phone number had been published, noting that he had also been persistently hounded by cameras and drones wherever he resided. He controversially held Kitroeff responsible for the situation, suggesting she willingly provided her phone number, anticipating a response from the president to her “slander”.
A National Concern
Late on Saturday, Sheinbaum and the Morena party’s secretary general, Citlalli Hernández, announced that their numbers had also been leaked and that they too were receiving offensive calls and messages. “It’s obvious what they want to do, again their attacks are as crude as they are harmless,” Sheinbaum wrote on her social media account.
This incident has raised serious concerns about the safety and privacy of public figures in Mexico. Adrián Alcalá, head of the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data, an autonomous body that guarantees access to information and the protection of personal data in Mexico, condemned the leak. He pledged that his organization would work to uphold the right to the protection of personal data in Mexico.
Alcalá also rebuked President López Obrador’s justification for releasing Kitroeff’s number, asserting that no one in Mexico, including the president, is above the law. He expressed regret that the Presidency did not recognize the severity of disclosing personal information, particularly that of a journalist.
However, it’s worth noting that President López Obrador has previously questioned the necessity of Alcalá’s agency and has proposed an initiative to dissolve it, among other autonomous agencies. This proposal has sparked widespread debate about the balance of power and the protection of privacy in Mexico.
According to a report by Reuters, this incident demonstrates the concerning state of press freedom in Mexico, which has long been criticized by international human rights organizations. As the situation continues to unfold, the international community will surely be watching closely.
