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López Obrador and Donald Trump are great friends

Off the Record features fact-checked news written by journalists and contributors to EL UNIVERSAL

López Obrador will visit Donald Trump tomorrow - Photo: File photo
07/07/2020 |09:29
Redacción El Universal
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López Obrador and Donald Trump are great friends

We’ve been told that once President Lópex Obrador arrives in Washington, he will visit Abraham Lincoln’s monument and Benito Juaréz’s statue. We’ve been told that the Mexican government sent Juárez’s statue to the U.S. government in 1968, as a gift to thanks the U.S. government for sending a statue of President Lincoln, which is found in a park in Polanco. During his first international trip as president, López Obrador will thank Trump for selling ventilators to Mexico amid the COVID-19 pandemic but Trump was already a step ahead of the Mexican President and told the U.S. Congress that Andrés Manuel López Obrador is was his friend and a wonderful man. The friendship between the two Presidents is going well, as long as Donald Trump doesn’t thank Mexico for deploying the National Guard to its southern border to halt migration or talk about Mexico paying for the wall.

The businessman who received two dinner invitations 

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A small group of Mexican businessmen was invited to a dinner hosted by President Donald Trump in Washington; however, one of them received two invitations: Bernardo Gómez from Televisa. We’ve been told that he received two invites because a year ago, during a tense time between both governments, the Televisa CEO organized a dinner between Jared Kushner and President López Obrador. The other guests invited to the dinner include Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Daniel Chávez, and Carlos Hank Gonzalez.

León Bartlett comes under fire

We’ve bee told that although the Public Administration Ministry imposed a few administrative punishments against Cyber Robotics Solutions, a company owned by León Manuel Bartlett Álvarez, the son of CFE director Manuel Bartlett, the case is not closed yet. As you might remember, the IMSS Hidalgo tried to buy 20 ventilators for MXN 31 million by directly granting the contract to Cyber Robotics Solutions, even when the equipment was overpriced and in terrible condition. We’ve been told that if authorities prove Bartlett’s company tried to lie to the government, the Public Administration Ministry could take legal action and file a lawsuit for fraud. This case isn’t over and León Bartlett’s fate is in the hands of Irma Eréndira Sandoval.

The automotive industry faces two threats

Today, lawmakers from the Economy Commission will hold a meeting with business owners from the automotive industry. It is expected that the USMCA will boost investment end spark economic growth, lawmakers from all political parties and business owners are feeling quite optimistic. During the meeting, they will detail the measures they have adopted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which were even over strict than those ordered by authorities. Nevertheless, we’ve been told that a few issues are threatening this industry, including insecurity, and violence.

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