Son of Mexico's ex-president says U.S. revoked his visa in politically motivated move
MEXICO CITY, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran, a son of former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said the United States had revoked his visa, alleging that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau ordered what he called a politically motivated decision.
In a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump released late Thursday, Lopez Beltran, widely known as "Andy," said U.S. authorities had provided no evidence linking him to any crime or wrongdoing.
Washington has expanded a campaign targeting Mexican officials accused of ties to organized crime. Reuters reported in October that the Trump administration had revoked the visas of at least 50 Mexican politicians and officials, including figures from across the political spectrum, as part of its cartel crackdown.
U.S. State Department officials have said visa cancellations can apply to officials engaged in drug trafficking, corruption or aiding illegal immigration.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday she was unaware of any investigations by Mexican prosecutors into Lopez Beltran, and framed the U.S. visa revocations against "politically exposed" Mexicans as an issue of national sovereignty.
"This amounts to interference in Mexican politics," Sheinbaum said. "I see no other reason for it."
The U.S. embassy in Mexico declined to comment, and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lopez Beltran recently stepped down from a leadership role in the ruling Morena party, which his father founded. In his letter, he described the visa revocation as "a crude and perverse act" by U.S. officials and hardliners he said target foreign politicians by labeling them "communists," "threats to U.S. security," or "narco-terrorists."
Lopez Beltran, 39, is preparing to seek a seat in Mexico's lower house of Congress in the 2027 midterm elections, likely representing a district in his home state of Tabasco. He said he hoped Trump would respond to the concerns raised in his letter.
In the letter, Lopez Beltran also said he did not mind avoiding travel to the United States, which he described as going through a period of hatred, racism and drug addiction. He also cited an open letter published by his father in June, in which the former president accused Washington of using "interventionist and unscrupulous practices" to strengthen Mexico's right-wing opposition and weaken his leftist movement.
The dispute is likely to deepen the political friction that has shadowed U.S.-Mexico relations during the Trump administration, and it gives Mexican officials a high-profile example of what they describe as Washington's interventionist posture.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Additional reporting by Fabiola Aramburo, Kylie Madry and Diego Ore; Editing by Rod Nickel and Cassandra Garrison)