Mexico president confirms leak of government data, admits health issues

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday said a cyber hack had accessed government files containing confidential information about the armed forces and details about his health, including a heart condition that led to treatment in January.

The president, speaking at a regular news conference, said information published in local media overnight from the hack was genuine, and he confirmed revelations about his health.

“It’s true, there was a cyber hack,” he said, noting that an ambulance was sent for him in January “because there was a risk of a heart attack, and I was taken to hospital.”

According to Mexican news reports of the hack, the 68-year-old president has been diagnosed with a form of angina, and had 10 medical consultations in the first half of January.

Lopez Obrador, who had a heart attack in 2013 and underwent a cardiac catheterization in January, said he was taking medicine and doing exercises to help with high blood pressure.

“I ended up on a cocktail (of drugs) I take at night for various illnesses,” he said, “but I am very well.”

The hack was carried out by a group identified in local media as “Guacamaya” – or ‘macaw’ in Spanish. Lopez Obrador said the group was likely of foreign origin.

According to media reports, six terabytes of data were hacked from Mexico’s defense ministry, including information about criminal figures, transcripts of communications and the monitoring of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar.

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