MEXICO CITY: Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran, a son of former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said the US has revoked his visa, accusing state secretary Marco Rubio and deputy secretary Christopher Landau of ordering what he called a politically motivated decision.
Lopez Beltran, widely known as “Andy,” made the claim in a letter to US president Donald Trump that was released late on Thursday.
He said US authorities had provided no evidence linking him to any crime or wrongdoing.
Washington has expanded a campaign targeting Mexican officials accused of ties to organised crime.
Reuters reported in October that the Trump administration had revoked the visas of at least 50 Mexican politicians and officials, including figures from across the political spectrum, as part of its cartel crackdown.
Visa cancellations can apply to officials engaged in drug trafficking, corruption or aiding illegal immigration, state department officials have said.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday she was unaware of any investigations by Mexican prosecutors into Lopez Beltran, and framed US visa revocations against “politically exposed” Mexicans as an issue of national sovereignty.
“This amounts to interference in Mexican politics,” Sheinbaum said. “I see no other reason for it,” she said.
In a statement on Saturday, the US embassy in Mexico defended US actions on visas, without referring to Lopez Beltran.
“The US will cancel any visa when there are reasons to do so, regardless of who the holder is, where they live, or what their political opinions may be,” it said on X.
A state department spokesman said in an email that the agency does not comment on specific visa cases due to confidentiality, but described the policy in general terms.
“Every visa decision is a national security decision,” the spokesman said.
Lopez Beltran recently stepped down from leadership in the ruling Morena party, which his father founded.
In his letter, he called the visa revocation “a crude and perverse act” by US officials and hardliners whom he said target foreign politicians by labeling them “communists,” “threats to US security”, or “narco-terrorists”.
The 39-year-old politician left his party role as he prepares to seek a seat in Mexico’s lower house of Congress in the 2027 midterm elections, likely representing a district in his home state of Tabasco.
He said he hoped Trump would respond to the concerns raised in his letter.
In the letter, Lopez Beltran also said he did not mind avoiding travel to the US, which he described as going through a period of hatred, racism and drug addiction.
He also referred to an open letter published by his father in June, in which the former president accused Washington of using “interventionist and unscrupulous practices” to strengthen Mexico’s right-wing opposition and weaken his leftist movement.
