Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attends a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico on February 18, 2020. (REUTERS File Photo)
MEXICO CITY, August 12 (Reuters): Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said two former presidents should have to testify about corruption after a former head of state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) accused former officials of involvement in bribes.
Former Pemex Chief Executive Emilio Lozoya on Tuesday filed a complaint saying ex-President Enrique Pena Nieto and his ex-finance minister Luis Videgaray had instructed him to direct bribes to Pena Nieto's 2012 election campaign and to buy votes in Congress.
Lopez Obrador called on Lozoya to come forward with evidence to back his accusations and said Pena Nieto's predecessor Felipe Calderon should also have to testify along with several unnamed lawmaker.
"Ex-president Calderon, ex-president Pena (Nieto), the lawmakers that are mentioned, the senators, all those mentioned have to testify," Lopez Obrador said at his daily morning news conference.
Lopez Obrador's naming of Calderon appeared to reflect part of Lozoya's complaint that the attorney general said referred to irregularities in the construction of a petro-chemical plant.
Lozoya's allegations raise the stakes in an anti-corruption drive that Lopez Obrador has put at the heart of his agenda ahead of mid-term elections next year.
