Tourism video under fire for content promoting AMLO, Morena party

A government tourism video that was criticized as propaganda for the ruling Morena party has been withdrawn after President López Obrador said it provided fodder for criticism of his administration.

The Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur) released a one-and-a-half-minute video whose ostensible purpose was to promote tourism in Mexico and outline the new national tourism strategy.

However, the clip also criticizes previous governments and features the Morena logo and footage of López Obrador at political rallies, celebrating his July 1 election victory and being sworn in as president.

“On December 1, a new era in the history of our country began, one which entails a transformation of national public life,” the video’s narrator says.

“. . . This transformation is based on a republican vision in favor of transparency, austerity and rationalization of public resources and against burdens such as corruption and the duplicity of actions,” the narrator continues.

The video was criticized in Congress, by past president Felipe Calderón on Twitter and by many other social media users including Mexican Employers Federation (Coparmex) chief Gustavo de Hoyos.

“. . . The official Sectur video, because of its ideological baggage, appears to be produced for a political party. Where was the tourism strategy? It’s a 40% fragment of the total time,” de Hoyos wrote on Twitter.

Today, López Obrador said he had instructed Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco to remove the video from government websites and social media accounts.

“It doesn’t correspond to a democratic government, it only gives our opponents evidence to say: ‘See? They’re the same . . . [Morena] is a party of the state, it’s a government that supports a party. No, we’re not the same,” he said.

Later today, Sectur announced it had withdrawn the video from circulation and that the video was not an “advertising spot.”

In a statement, the secretariat said the video had a “specific purpose,” which was to “elucidate the presentation of the national tourism strategy” in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, on Sunday.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Financiero (sp)