Morena backs Andrés Manuel López Beltrán and demands evidence for accusations, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): Morena national president Ariadna Montiel Reyes backed Andrés Manuel López Beltrán after his public statement on accusations linking him to alleged corruption and the so-called huachicol fiscal, a term for fuel smuggling. She said any allegation must be supported by evidence.
During a press conference held Tuesday, November 3, Montiel defended the political career of the son of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She said that, as far as she knows, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has no investigation involving him.
“We learned this morning of a video, a position of Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, through an Instagram video, where he states that the whole war of slander and accusations is not based on evidence,” she said.
Montiel said she shares that position and noted that President Claudia Sheinbaum has also spoken about the lack of grounds to investigate the former organization secretary of Morena. “All accusations must have evidence,” she insisted, questioning whether the allegations rest only on versions or statements from third parties.
Morena’s backing came hours after López Beltrán posted a video on his Instagram account rejecting any involvement in operations related to fuel smuggling and denying that he used political relationships to favor private interests. In the message, he also ruled out business dealings with businessman Jorge Amílcar Olán Aparicio, who is mentioned in journalistic investigations into government contracting, though he acknowledged knowing him for years through mutual friends.
López Beltrán said he never intervened to obtain public contracts for third parties and denied communicating with officials of the Secretariat of the Navy to facilitate illegal operations. He also attributed the accusations to an alleged smear campaign against his family and the political movement led by his father.
No documentary evidence supporting the claim of a coordinated operation against him was presented in the message.
During the conference, Montiel was also asked about complaints that members of the National Action Party (PAN) say they filed with the FGR, and whether López Beltrán could be investigated and sanctioned if evidence of a crime were found. She declined to anticipate any responsibility and said it is up to the prosecutor’s office to determine whether the accusations have merit.
“I am neither a judge nor a public prosecutor,” she responded.
The most concrete precedent cited is a statement issued by the FGR on August 17, 2026, through its official account, in which it said it had no protected witnesses that would allow an investigation of a former president’s son for hydrocarbon-related crimes. According to El Financiero, which reported the statement at the time, the office said the Federal Public Ministry did not have evidence with the legal strength needed to open an inquiry into those accusations.
A complaint and an investigation directed against a person, however, are not the same thing. Under the National Code of Criminal Procedure, complaints allow possible criminal acts to be brought to the attention of the Public Ministry, which must examine them and carry out the corresponding investigations under the law.
The existence of a complaint alone therefore does not establish a person’s responsibility or mean that formal charges have been filed. An August statement also cannot automatically establish the status of a case in November.
So far, the FGR has not issued a public update that would determine the procedural status of all the complaints mentioned during the conference.
Beyond the legal debate, Montiel argued that the accusations against López Beltrán are part of a political strategy aimed at damaging the image of former president López Obrador. She said this narrative began years ago and that the opposition is trying to discredit the movement through allegations against its main figures.
“What the opposition wants is to damage the figure, at bottom, of President López Obrador,” she said.
Montiel also recognized López Beltrán’s work during his time on Morena’s National Executive Committee, particularly in membership and territorial organization. While she defended his record and his right to respond publicly, she maintained that it is the FGR’s responsibility to evaluate the complaints and determine whether there are grounds to proceed under the law.
