Maria Amparo CASAR

The Mexican sociologist, columnist, activist and writer faced a smear campaign from then President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2024. The attacks began with the publication of her book, Los puntos sobre las íes: El legado de un gobierno que mintió, robó y traicionó (Dots on the I's. The legacy of a government that lied, stole and betrayed’ (Debate, 2024), launched on 30 April 2024 in Mexico City, in which she documents and criticises the lack of transparency in López Obrador’s government. 

From 3 May 2024, in at least seven press conferences, Obrador attempted  to discredit her work. On 13 May 2024, the Attorney General's Office announced that an investigation was opened against alleged fraud by the author in relation to the collection of the pension of her late husband, a former official of the Mexican state oil company PEMEX. The accusations were made public by PEMEX’s current director at a press conference held by the then president.  

The Mexican government also shared hundreds of pages of a file on an official website that included her husband's death certificate, as well as full documents with personal information about the author and her family, such as academic records of her children, their cheques and their addresses, violating her security. Amparo Casar denied any wrongdoing, and successfully challenged PEMEX’s suspension of pension payments; the company sought to overturn the ruling. PEN International believes the investigation was brought against her in reprisal for her research.  

María Amparo Casar has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She specialises in Mexican politics and comparative politics. She is the author of books including Dinero bajo la mesa (Grijalbo, 2019) (Money under the table), Anatomía de la Corrupción (Mexicanos contra la corrupción, 2023) (Anatomy of Corruption) and El Sistema Político Mexicano (Oxford University Press, 2010) (The Mexican Political System), among others.