Photo: twitter.com/SEMAR_mx/

By MARK LORENZANA

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) confirmed on Thursday, Sept. 29, the disappearance of two elements of Mexico’s Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) since March of this year in Acapulco, Guerrero. AMLO, however, denied that the sailors had been assigned as permanent bodyguards of José Narro Céspedes, a senator from López Obrador’s leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena).

During his daily morning press conference, AMLO said that the sailors “only accompanied” the Morena legislator while he traveled from the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero to Mexico City.

“Yes, there are missing sailors. They were working in Acapulco, and they came here (to Mexico City),” AMLO said. “They were not, I understand, assigned as permanent bodyguards for Senator Narro, but rather accompanied him from Guerrero to Mexico City, more or less.”

It had been reported in the local media that, since March, two Semar sailors had been missing, and were allegedly assigned by Acapulco Mayor Abelina López to protect Narro Céspedes.

However, Narro Céspedes distanced himself from the issue by saying that “he has already shown” that he had no knowledge of the whereabouts of the two missing sailors, Óscar Manuel González Andrade and Victoriano Rodríguez Zurita.

On Aug. 22, the Morena senator declared at a press conference that he had already filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the alleged leak of sensitive data about the disappearance of the sailors.

“I have denounced the leak of information because it is an improper and illegal act. A media trial has been created against me to condemn me, without the competent authority having issued a final resolution,” Narro Céspedes said during the news conference.

The senator further explained that the only government unit that could access this information is Mexico City’s Office of the Prosecutor for the Investigation and Prosecution of Crimes in the Matter of Forced Disappearance of Persons.

“My rights have been violated, that is why I have filed these two complaints, so that the authorities can initiate the pertinent investigation to identify who leaked the information and act accordingly,” said Narro Céspedes.