The revocation, which the United States has not recognized, comes amid a crackdown on Mexican politicians suspected of ties to cartels.
The son of former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has accused the United States of revoking his visa in a politically motivated maneuver.
Andres Manuel López Beltrán made the claim late Thursday in an open letter posted on social media to US President Donald Trump.
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He accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau of ordering the visa cancellations.
López-Beltrán wrote to President Trump saying there is “no reason whatsoever to justify such arrogant behavior.” “I would like to emphasize that these officials have no evidence against me of any immoral or criminal activity.”
The US State Department has not officially responded to his claims.
His letter was sent as part of the U.S. visa cancellation process. Several Mexican officials across political lines have had their visas revoked as part of what the Trump administration characterized as a broad crackdown on individuals connected to drug cartels.
Who is López Beltrán?
López Beltrán, 39, is a prominent Mexican politician who recently resigned as leader of the left-wing Morena party.
His father founded the party in 2011 and ruled Mexico as president from 2018 to 2024.
Another Morena politician, Claudia Sheinbaum, is currently president, and Morena enjoys a decisive majority in both houses of Mexico’s Congress.
López-Beltrán is expected to run for Congress next year.
López-Beltrán stayed away from party politics during most of his father’s presidency, focusing instead on his chocolate business.
However, he was elected Morena’s organizing secretary in September 2024, a few weeks before his father retired.
In his letter, López-Beltran called the revocation a “crude and perverted act” and said U.S. authorities were targeting Mexican politicians by falsely labeling them as “communists,” “threats to U.S. security” and “narco-terrorists.”
Sheinbaum responds to the letter
On Friday, Sheinbaum said he was not aware of any investigation by Mexican prosecutors against López-Beltrán.
“This amounts to interference in Mexican politics,” Sheinbaum said at a morning news conference. “I don’t see any other reason.”
Mr. Sheinbaum responded cautiously to the Trump administration’s hard-line approach to cartels and transnational crime, pledging to cooperate.
But she has also said she will protect Mexico’s sovereignty from foreign interference, and while she welcomes cooperation with U.S. intelligence agencies, she reportedly turned down Trump’s overtures regarding U.S. military action on Mexican territory.
He also rejected statements last month by the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that the government has ties to organized crime, a topic often discussed by Trump.
In April, it denounced the US decision to indict Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha, also a member of the Morena party, on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
She argued that the indictment lacked evidence and that such an investigation should be left to Mexican prosecutors.
The Trump administration has accused Rocha’s campaign of collaborating with the powerful Sinaloa cartel, a criminal organization it considers a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Rocha announced in May that he would take a temporary leave of absence from his post as governor to protect himself from the charges.
