Argentine Foreign Minister accused Luis Almagro of wanting to influence Mexican elections

“OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro wants to influence the elections in Mexico by attacking his Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard. This demonstrates not only its inability to generate consensus among member countries, but also a great institutional irresponsibility ”, wrote Alberto Fernández Foreign Minister Felipe Solá, on his Twitter account.

The Argentine’s message was a show of support for his Mexican counterpart, who maintains Almagro is “the worst management of the OAS in history.”

Solá also directly accused the secretary of the regional body of trying to influence the midterm elections, which will be held tomorrow in Mexico.

Despite Solá’s defense, The dispute between Ebrad and Almagro began with the Mexican’s controversial statement last Friday, during the usual morning conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, He said Almagro has acted on several occasions without consulting states. “He acts as a freelance, he assumes that he does not need to consult them. He took some very dubious measures like the case of Bolivia, it was shameful, they practically facilitated a coup. Mexico’s opinion is that this is one of the worst efforts in history, ”he said.

After the Mexican’s statements, the OAS secretary general said he was surprised by the attacks. “I am good people, for my part I wish him that no other work he did as head of government in Mexico City does not fall apart. Without prejudice to my solidarity with the victims of the metro line, ”said the Uruguayan.

Almagro spoke of the collapse of a section of line 12 of the metro’s public transport system on May 3. The also known “gold line” was the magnum opus of Ebrard’s six-year tenure, construction of which began in July 2008 and opened on October 30, 2012.

Almagro also recalled that the opinions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs are not new since Mexico has campaigned against his re-election as head of the body.. “It was the campaign slogan he used to try to avoid my re-election and which, as we have seen, has been overtaken by the facts. It’s a defeated slogan, so it didn’t affect. This morning, I received two notes congratulating us on the management we have carried out in six years of the OAS. I keep these elements, ”he added.

Ebrad’s accusations against Almagro come against the backdrop of the violent Mexican electoral backdrop. The country will hold the biggest elections in its history tomorrow with the disputed House of Representatives, as well as key governments for President López Obrador’s project. In addition to attacks on candidates – which even include assassinations – the president’s alleged interference in the electoral process is raised.

As with all elections in the region, OAS members are already in the country as “accredited foreign visitors” to oversee the elections, which may have aroused the defensive attitude of the Mexican authorities.

And Solá’s statements against Almagro are not the first, either. This is because in addition to vigorously defending the alliance that Argentina has maintained with the Mexican government since Fernández won the elections in 2019 – in fact the Peronist visited Mexico before even taking office – the foreign minister argues that the OAS secretary general played a key role in Evo Morales resigns from the Bolivian presidency.

As he has repeatedly stated, for the Argentine government, it was not the 2019 election fraud that ousted Morales from power, but rather a coup. “What happened in Bolivia would not have been possible without the consent of the OAS. Your role is to report hits, not to sponsor them”, Accused Solá on November 10 last year, a day after Evo Moral -who spent almost a year as a refugee in the Argentina– return to their country accompanied by the president Fernandez.

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