Mexico president doubles down on Hitler comparison with Jewish analyst after protest

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday stated he was proper to match a outstanding Mexican Jewish determine to Adolf Hitler for his political mindset, shrugging off a protest from the nation’s Jewish neighborhood.

Lopez Obrador on Wednesday stated promoting govt and political analyst Carlos Alazraki, a critic of the president, was “Hitlerian,” prompting the Mexican Jewish neighborhood to challenge an announcement rejecting the remarks as “unacceptable.”

Lopez Obrador referred to Alazraki after a video was proven throughout a daily authorities information convention of the latter in dialogue with opposition politicians who stated Mexico was permitting in undocumented migrants from Venezuela at a brand new airport. The federal government denies this.

“He’s extraordinarily conservative, like Hitlerian,” Lopez Obrador stated on Wednesday.

In an announcement, the Jewish Group of Mexico rejected the usage of the time period “Hitlerian” to check with anybody: “Any comparability with essentially the most bloodthirsty regime in historical past is regrettable and unacceptable.”

Hitler’s Nazis killed 6 million Jews throughout World Struggle Two.

Some Mexican opposition politicians additionally took offense. “The President’s remark in opposition to Carlos Alazraki not solely violates freedom of expression, however is unworthy and out of all proportion. To name a outstanding member of the Jewish neighborhood ‘Hitlerian’ is extraordinarily grotesque and aberrant,” opposition congressman Santiago Creel stated in a tweet.

On Thursday, Lopez Obrador returned to the matter throughout his common information convention, saying “Alazraki is a follower of Hitler’s considering,” and pointing to Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels and his use of lies to govern public opinion.

“That is the essence of Alazraki’s publicity or propaganda technique,” stated the president, who has commonly invoked Goebbels when in search of to discredit his critics.

To make his level, Lopez Obrador confirmed a short 2021 video clip through which Alazraki stated the important thing to beating the president’s ruling Nationwide Regeneration Motion (MORENA) electorally was to make use of lies and propaganda in opposition to it.

Alazraki informed Reuters he was at a loss to grasp the president’s feedback. He stated his remarks within the clip have been taken out of context, and that he was illustrating that to compete with MORENA, one had to make use of propaganda because the social gathering did.

Alazraki additionally posted a video on Twitter on Thursday condemning Lopez Obrador’s remarks, underlining his opposition to his insurance policies. He concluded by saying he forgave the president for the insults “as a result of you do not know what you are doing.”

Lopez Obrador noticed that he had longstanding variations with Alazraki however expressed respect for the Jewish neighborhood.

“I’ve superb pals within the Jewish neighborhood,” he stated.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire and Dave Graham in Mexico Metropolis; Modifying by Matthew Lewis)