MEXICO CITY (AP) — The eldest son of Mexico’s president said Saturday that his telephone number was published on social media and that he has received threats.
The incident comes a day after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador disclosed the phone number of a reporter for The New York Times, which published a story about a U.S. probe into claims that López took money from drug traffickers. López denied the allegations.
The president’s oldest son, José Ramón López Beltrán, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he considered the publication of his phone number “a kind of vengeance” and said it puts his family in danger.
It wasn’t immediately clear who made the number public. López Beltrán said the incident began with a letter that contained “threats and lies” directed at the president and his sons. He did not elaborate.
On Saturday, Mexico’s president told reporters that it was “embarrassing for them to act that way,” referring to everyone involved.
He spoke while visiting the city of Mazatlan and once again criticized The New York Times report, saying, “We are not taking a single step back in the defense of liberty and justice.”
Meanwhile, López Beltrán said it’s the second time that his phone number has been published and noted he also has been harassed by cameras and drones everywhere he has lived.
López Beltrán also blamed the New York Times reporter for Friday’s incident, saying she provided her number “thinking that the president would respond to her slander.”
The president’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data, an autonomous body that guarantees access to information and the protection of personal data in Mexico, has not commented on the incident detailed by the president’s son.