MEXICO CITY.- Although the senator Adam Augusto Lopezcoordinator of the bench of Morena in it Senateclaimed to have obtained a “great discount” from Planeta Publishing Group to acquire thousands of copies of “Greatness“, the new book by the former president Andrés Manuel López Obradorthe investment could have been almost five million pesos.
According to El Universal, after interviews with booksellers, the publisher “is very harsh with its commercial conditions.”
According to sector specialists, in firm purchases – such as the one made by the senator – the possible discount would be “up to 40%.”
If that were the case, the first figure handled by Adam Augustus, 17,400 copiesit would have cost more than 4 million 677 thousand pesosbased on the commercial price of the book in bookstores: 448 pesos per unit.
However, the legislator himself changed his version of events days later, opening a new controversy that once again links him directly to former President López Obrador.
Adán Augusto gives away “Grandeza”, AMLO’s book in the Senate: versions about the price change
Last Wednesday, Adán Augusto López rectified the information that he himself had given days before about the supposed discount in the acquisition of “Grandeza”, AMLO’s new book.
He assured that it was not a collective purchase made by the 67 Morenoist senators to deliver the books as a Christmas gift, but that it was he, with “money from his savings,” who made the purchase to give it exclusively to the members of his caucus.
In addition, he modified the total number of books purchased: he said that it was not 17,400, but 6,700 copies.
With the same maximum discount calculations indicated by booksellers—40%—the cost would amount to 1.9 million pesos, since each book would have been purchased for 269 pesos.
Even with the lower figure, the purchase is still in the millions.
In parallel, this controversy joins a series of previous episodes in which Adán Augusto has promoted works linked to the 4T. Just last October.
The senator also bought and distributed the president’s book among Morenoist legislators. Claudia Sheinbaum, Diary of a historical transitionalso published by Grupo Editorial Planeta.
Grupo Editorial Planeta: what are your commercial conditions?
A bookseller with years of experience working with Planet declared to The Universal that the publisher “is very harsh with its commercial conditions” and that the maximum possible discount for firm purchases is 40%.
Likewise, he indicated that in the catalog of the Spanish label there are various authors linked to the so-called Fourth Transformationamong them Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Fritz Glockner, Claudia Sheinbaum y AMLO.
The interviewee, who requested confidentiality to avoid retaliation, added: “We always wonder about the conflict of interest, but this (the purchase of Grandeza) is a mockery and a lie”.
These statements deepen the controversy, since they directly contrast with the version of the senator, who claimed to have paid “one hundred and so many pesos” for each copy of Greatness.
A figure that does not coincide with the real commercial margins of the Mexican publishing industry.
The opacity surrounding the final cost of the acquisition was also evident when Adán Augusto López indicated that he has not yet paid the publishing company and that he “does not know the total cost” of the purchase.
According to an editor consulted by The Universalalso under anonymity, no publisher offers books at the printing costnot even in institutional or large volume purchases, again contradicting what the legislator said.