It was indeed a conspiracy: Fidel Castro confirms the plot against AMLO

Fidel Castro, in a lengthly letter published today, confirms what was already pretty much well established:

In 2004, leading politicians of PRI and PAN conspired to damage AMLO's standing among the electorate through leaked videos made with hidden camera where René Bejarano, a very close ally of AMLO and technically his "private secretary," was seen stuffing wads of dollars into bags, while his secretary of finance Gustavo Ponce was recorded high rolling in Las Vegas

(This must not be confused with the desafuero of 2005, which sought to prevent him from legally participating by stripping him of his immunity for prosecution and charging him, and where President Vicente Fox destroyed his credentials as a fighter for democracy due to his role in this process).

While Carlos Ahumada, the Argentine-Mexican shady businessman central to the plot, published his own auto-défense last year where confirmed much of AMLO's suspicions, today, Castro now apparently finally found it opportune to confirm this, seemingly based on the the interrogation of Ahumada when he had fled to Cuba to avoid capture by Mexican authorities for fraud against the Mexico City government. And yes, Jefe Diego was part of the plot, as was, more surprisingly to me, Santiago Creel.

Castro:

“[Carlos] Salinas de Gortari and [Diego] Fernández de Cevallos  saw the videos first and , with the Interior Secretary and the Federal Attorney General of the government of [Vicente Fox], Santiago Creel and Rafael Macedo de la Concha respectively, organized the carrying out of the formal accusation and its later disclosure, offering [Ahumada] in exchange economic help in his businesses and legal protection for him and his family."

Why now, so late? This is pretty powerful stuff, and while it will very likely never lead to an indictment, certainly should.

I should also note that I find the full article by Castro pretty dishonest as it brushes over Cuba's relationship with Salinas. Recall that Cuba immediately recognized Salinas' government, despite the obvious 1988 fraud that brought him to power - and yes, in 1988 there was an electoral fraud, unlike in 2006 - yet Castro's comments on this is pretty self-serving, as is his downplaying of the fact that Salinas was allowed to buy and own a house in Cuba (when will Cubans be allowed to do the same?).