By Emily Green
MEXICO CITY, June 3 (Reuters) - Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused Washington on Wednesday of employing "interventionist and unscrupulous practices" to bolster Mexico’s right-wing opposition and weaken his leftist political movement.
The remarks come amid escalating tension between the United States and Mexico, now led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, whom Lopez Obrador also praised as the "best president Mexico has had in our time."
One of Mexico’s most popular political figures, López Obrador has largely stayed out of the spotlight since leaving office in 2024, but that changed with his forceful rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump posted on X on Wednesday.
Trump had changed since his first term, López Obrador said in his five-page letter, describing the president then as cooperative, pragmatic and open to dialogue.
"Speaking from what I personally experienced and can prove, the Trump of today is different from the one I dealt with," he wrote.
He blamed Trump’s transformation on what he called "false friends and advisers, both internal and external, who have led him into vile and sinister adventures."
López Obrador holds no official power, but he retains significant political influence, and his remarks amount to a forceful show of support for Sheinbaum, his political protégé.
Mexican and U.S. officials could not be immediately reached for comment about López Obrador's remarks.
After more than a year of cooperative, if often strained, relations with Washington, Sheinbaum has sharpened her rhetoric in recent days, stepping up calls to defend national sovereignty.
The U.S. justice department's April indictment of 10 Mexican officials over alleged drug trafficking ties has emerged as a particular sore point in relations.
López Obrador accused U.S. officials of seeking to undermine Mexico's ruling Morena party, which he founded, under the guise of combating migration and narco-terrorism.
He concluded, "For the good of all, may the other Trump return."
(Reporting by Emily Green; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
