Former election opponent of Mexico's president flees country

A Mexican politician who was one of several unsuccessful aspirants for the presidency in the 2018 elections has fled the country, claiming that charges against him are politically motivated

MEXICO CITY -- Former presidential candidate Ricardo Anaya, who was one of several unsuccessful aspirants for Mexico’s top office in the 2018 elections, has fled the country, claiming that charges against him are politically motivated. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied Monday that the government is persecuting Anaya. The president said the charges stem from accusations by a former official that legislators like Anaya were paid off to vote for the country's energy overhaul in 2013 and 2014.. Anaya, a former congressman who was the presidential candidate of the conservative National Action Party, said in a video posted on social media over the weekend that he was leaving Mexico. He did not say where he was going, but said he feared being jailed for 30 years on the charges. “In the era of autocrats like López Obrador, exile is the only alternative to continue fighting," Anaya said. “Allowing yourself to be jailed by an autocrat often means losing the battle.”