Former Petróleos Mexicanos Director Emilio Lozoya. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

Mexico’s Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) seemingly believes everything that disgraced former Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) Director Emilio Lozoya’s claims surrounding who received bribes during his time at the company, despite several witnesses offering testimony to the contrary.

After admitting himself to have received bribes from corrupt Brazilian company Odebrecht after his extradition back to Mexico in August of 2020, Loyoza said he then distributed some of the funds to various Mexican legislators to ensure their approval of a key energy reform, a claim which former Odebrecht directors vehemently dispute.

Despite these contradictions, the FGR has done absolutely nothing to investigate into the conflicting testimonies down in Brazil, instead taking Lozoya’s word as bond — quite conveniently, as the Pemex official has named opponents of the current government as recipients of the bribes, including former National Action Party (PAN) presidential candidate Ricardo Anaya.

For their part, the previous Odebrecht officials say they had illegally paid Lozoya Austin to do business with their plants in Veracruz and Tula, but never to influence elections.

Meanwhile, the FGR continues to pursue Lozoya’s single-handed claims against Anaya, while the former Pemex director seems set to get off for his own crimes scott-free.