Mexican leader vows transparency in probe of helicopter crash

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised Wednesday that his government will hide “absolutely nothing” concerning the helicopter crash in which opposition politicians Martha Erika Alonso and Rafael Moreno Valle died.

“In this government, there is a commitment and willingness to know the whole truth. We are not going to hide anything, we have to know what caused this accident and this tragedy,” the leftist leader said at a morning press conference.

Lopez Obrador said that a transparent investigation would be carried out after some opposition leaders hinted at the possible participation of the president’s Morena party or the current administration in the event.

“So that there is no suspicion, the government of the republic will appeal to an independent body from abroad, recognized and prestigious, to present a conclusion that we are going to make public to the people of Mexico,” he said.

Questioned about a possible conspiracy theory in the crash involving Morena, the president said that he is advocating for change in the country’s politics via a “peaceful path.”

“We are going to achieve this change along the path of harmony. We would never act against anyone,” said Lopez Obrador, who criticized certain right-wing politicians and “neo-fascist groups” for acting in such a “petty way.”

Killed in the Christmas Eve crash were Puebla Gov. Alonso and her husband and gubernatorial predecessor, Sen. Moreno Valle.

An assistant from Moreno Valle named Hector Baltazar and the aircraft’s pilot and co-pilot also died.

Lopez Obrador reported Wednesday that the ongoing partial shutdown of the government in Washington is delaying a response to Mexico’s request for assistance from the US National Transportation Safety Board .

Mexico’s deputy transportation secretary, Carlos Alfonso Moran, said Tuesday that representatives of the Italian company that manufactured the Agusta A109 aircraft and of engine-makers Pratt & Whitney were already at the crash site in Puebla.

Alonso, of the right-wing National Action Party, took office Dec. 14 after the federal electoral tribunal ratified her contested victory in the July 1 election over Morena candidate Miguel Barbosa.

The president called the electoral court’s decision wrong and “anti-democratic.”