Businessman and former tourism undersecretary Simón Levy recounted an alleged assassination attempt on his life in Washington, D.C., from which he escaped unharmed in a bulletproof vehicle. Meanwhile, Mexico City's prosecutor's office confirmed his detention in Portugal due to two active arrest warrants. Levy rejected the official account and accused Morena-linked individuals of threats.
On October 29, 2025, Simón Levy, former undersecretary of Tourism Planning and Policy during Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government, reappeared in social media videos to deny his detention in Portugal and recount a violent incident. According to his account, in the early hours of Wednesday, two subjects approached and fired at least twice at him in Washington, D.C. 'Fortunately nothing happened to me. I quickly got into a bulletproof car and was able to leave. I escaped by a miracle,' he stated in an interview with Luis Cárdenas.
Levy directly accused Morena party members of sending death threats against him and his family due to his criticisms of former President López Obrador. 'I have received several threats, directly from people in the Morena party. Yesterday was the most precise: they told me that if I kept getting involved with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, they would not only kill me, but also my children. Fortunately, my children are not in Mexico,' he asserted. In a video, he addressed President Claudia Sheinbaum: 'Here I am, Madam President, to tell you that whatever you need, here is a Mexican ready to raise his voice.'
That morning, the Mexico City Attorney General's Office (FGJCDMX) issued a statement confirming Levy's detention in Lisbon on October 28, resulting from migration alerts and an Interpol red notice. The two arrest warrants stem from failures to attend hearings: one from December 2021 for environmental crimes and director responsibilities in an irregular Polanco construction, with absences in August 2022 and 2025; the other from November 2021 for threats and intentional property damage, with five misses from December 2021 to October 2022. Levy claims the cases are 'fabricated,' one prescribed and the other resolved in his favor as a victim.
Sheinbaum briefly commented in her press conference: 'It seems yes, in Portugal, I think. And it's from a notice that was there, a complaint filed by a private individual against him some time ago in Mexico City.' The accounts conflict, with Levy claiming to be free in the United States and having filed a report for the attempt, while the prosecutor's office states he faces precautionary measures in Portugal for extradition.