Mexican president forges crucible for corruption fight, eyeing key vote

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures while arriving to an event in Matamoros, Mexico August 27, 2020. Mexico's Presidency/Handout via REUTERS

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gearing up for a key election next year, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has wielded corruption as both a stick with which to beat political adversaries, and a lightning rod to deflect criticism from his record in office.

Now, videos of his brother receiving cash from a political ally have cast doubt over Lopez Obrador's upright image, undermining his argument that entrenched corruption has fed chronic gang violence and held back Mexico's misfiring economy.