Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador defended himself after facing questions about his hometown baseball team’s mascot getting transported via naval helicopter.
The Olmecas de Tabasco club’s mascot Pochi arrived to Thursday’s game in an Airbus Panther helicopter flanked by military personnel on the Tabasco state stadium. The country’s navy confirmed that it provided “an air unit, an escort, a war band, a marching band and naval personnel” Friday afternoon. Tabasco is Lopez Obrador’s home town, making the Olmecas his home team.
“I do not agree with it,” Lopez Obrador said in a press conference Friday morning. “Of course I’m all for baseball and sports, and I know there is a lot of passion for the sport. It is after all in its finals, hence the helicopter because they were starting off the playoffs, the final games of the Mexican baseball league.”
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Descendiendo del ?, Pochi hace entrega al centro del diamante de la razón por la que hoy estamos en #Playoffs:⚾️
¡De herencia olmeca y tradición beisbolera! ? #SomosOlmecas??⚾️ pic.twitter.com/enu2CJIEEM
— Olmecas Tabasco (@OlmecasTabasco) August 11, 2022
The Mexican navy stood by its participation in the game, saying it was a pleasure to “exalt patriotic values” during such a sporting event.
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Meanwhile, Lopez Obrador faces controversies such as the over-100,000 missing Mexican people since 1964 and a recent riot in Juarez that left 11 people dead.
