Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that the country’s violent criminal gangs and drug cartels are “respectful people” who “respect the citizenry.” The president added that they mostly just kill each other.

The Mexican president’s claims are at odds with the reality of millions of Mexicans who live in areas dominated by drug cartels and violent criminal gangs. The cartels routinely demand protection payments from local residents and they kill or kidnap the citizens if they refuse to pay the protection payment.

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On Thursday, April 25, a reporter asked President López Obrador whether drug cartels behaved well when he visited the hometown of notorious criminal “El Chapo,” a place he has visited dozens of times.

“Always,” the president said. “Sometimes we come upon people who are strange, but respectful.”

López Obrador has long refused to directly confront drug cartels in Mexico. He seemed to sympathize with the plight of some of drug cartel members. López Obrador suggested members were forced into a life of crime because of lack of opportunities. His “hugs, not bullets” strategy offers training for youth in an effort to prevent them from becoming criminals.

However, López Obrador’s claim that the drug cartels don’t attack common people takes the issue to whole other level. Experts and human rights activists said cartel violence and extortion forced thousands of Mexicans from their homes. In addition, cartels killed thousands of business owners, taxi and bus drivers for refusing extortion demands.

Thursday’s statements by the president come more than a month after he said he will not fight Mexican drug cartels on orders from the United States. The president called it a “Mexico First Policy.”

“We are not going to act as policemen for any foreign government,” López Obrador said. “Mexico first, our home comes first.”