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Mexico president bristles at security criticisms

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Monday declined to criticize supporters who confronted and insulted relatives of people killed by violence, defending their right to protest but saying he hadn't encouraged them.

Backers of the president shouted and accused people in the Caravan for Truth, Justice and Peace of being provocateurs Sunday as they arrived in Mexico City's central plaza after a four-day march.

Asked about the confrontation, López Obrador appeared to suggest the marchers had a political motive and were silent during previous administrations and only decided to speak up in his.

“They kept silent, they shut up like mummies," he said at his daily news conference.

However, the leader of the caravan, poet Javier Sicilia, had created a vocal and widely publicized national victims' movement after his son was killed in 2011 during the presidency of Felipe Calderon.

López Obrador suggested only his administration was facing criticism for runaway violence that he blames on previous governments, in particular Calderón's. Last year, Mexico had its highest murder total — 35,588 — since tracking began.

Sicilia and others have criticized López Obrador's security strategy, which focuses on long-term efforts to lower poverty and increase opportunities thereby reducing violence.

“They suffer from amnesia and they start to see everything — like they are opening their eyes — when we arrive (in power),” López Obrador said.

The caravan included many of the grassroots groups that have emerged around Mexico to search for disappeared relatives, as well as the widow of journalist Javier Valdez, who was killed in 2017.

Asked if he was referring to Sicilia and other march participants, López Obrador said, “I refer to those who act that way.”