Mexican Senator Lilly Tellez (PAN-Sonora) blasted President Claudia Sheinbaum, demanding she “stop telling lies.” The senator accused her country’s president of having a close association with several lawyers who represent drug cartels during a fiery speech to the Mexican Senate.
The Senator representing the Mexican State of Sonora is routinely critical of President Sheinbaum’s seemingly soft approach to fighting organized crime in Mexico. Maria Lilly Del Carmen Tellez García, professionally known as “Lilly Tellez,” is a Mexican politician who was first elected as a senator in 2018 under the Morena Party. In 2019, Tellez left the Morena Party, and in 2020, she joined the National Action Party (PAN). She became an openly vocal critic of the Mexican government, often claiming with receipts that they are in bed with the cartels.
In June 2022, Breitbart Texas reported that the senator lashed out against the ruling party, saying, “How am I going to face off against the senator from Sinaloa, knowing she has all the support of the Gulf Cartel, and El Chapo’s Cartel?”
Tellez added, “How can we face off against you when you have the full support of the cartels, the mafia, knowing full well that once we get out of here we can be attacked by those criminals who are helping you to operate in the elections –this is having bravery and civic responsibility.”
Tellez stated that the decision to abandon the Morena Party was made when former President Manuel López Obrador, commonly referred to as AMLO, traveled to Badiraguato, Sinaloa, to shake hands with the mother of convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in 2020. Before becoming a politician, Tellez was well-known as an investigative journalist for TV Azteca, Mexico’s second-largest mass media company.
As an investigative reporter, Tellez conducted several investigations involving the Arellano-Felix Cartel. She also produced two documentaries denouncing Samuel Del Villar, a government official from Mexico City, as corrupt. On June 22, 2020, her car was shot at eight times by a group of unknown men. She survived the attack without injury. A bullet was discovered to have hit her seat belt buckle and caused the trajectory of the bullet to change course, possibly saving her life. As is often the case in Mexico, no suspects were ever arrested, and the case was closed.
During her speech before the Mexican Senate in February, Tellez offered proof of President Sheinbaum’s associations with “the defenders of organized crime” by pointing to a photo of the president with attorneys who, according to Tellez, admitted on video to being dedicated to “defending organized crime.” Tellez further stated that the attorneys pictured with Sheinbaum are owners of the law firm that represents Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Senator Tellez told the Senate:
To President Sheinbaum, I demand that you stop telling lies. She knows the legal defenders of the drug traffickers. Don’t be a liar President Sheinbaum. Here we see her, here we see President Sheinbaum with a wide smile. A rare thing for her by the way, and giving her the hand to the drug traffickers lawyer. Here is the proof. President Sheinbaum, don’t be liar. And here’s another proof President Sheinbaum the liar. Here you are very happy also strange that she smiles like that. She smiles like that when she’s with her partners who defend the drug traffickers. Here is President Sheinbaum with the partner of this other one who already said on video that he dedicates himself to defending the organized crime. These are the owners of the law firm that are defending Mayo Zambada. And you president Sheinbaum, are pictured with the two of them. Moreover, the Morena Party in the chamber of congress, is Gutierrez the kind of, the one that pays. You gave contracts to this defender of drug traffickers. So president Sheinbaum, stop telling lies to Mexico. Your narco-Party, this group of mobsters. It’s clear that I’ve told you for years that they came to power for being dirty with dirty money for pure ambition.
Unlike many Mexican politicians, Tellez has been very critical of his close ties and conduct with the Narco underworld. In an article published by Milenio on March 03, 2003, she described herself as a lone wolf.
Tellez ended her speech, “So, President Sheinbaum, stop telling lies to Mexico. Your Narco-Party, this group of mobsters, it’s clear that I’ve told you for years that they came to power for being dirty with dirty money for pure ambition”.
Tellez raised eyebrows with her fearless speeches about the corruption that has increasingly become Mexico’s identity. She stated that as a journalist, she’s spent her whole life denouncing government corruption, injustice, and organized crime. In a December 2022 article published in Mexico News Daily, she stated that President Sheinbaum is a submissive puppet to her predecessor, President Manuel Lopez Obrador. The statement came during her announcement as a Senate candidate.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart News Foundation traveled to Mexico to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate throughout Mexico if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “Diego Cervantes.”
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