Newspaper Albuquerque Journal has again referred to the Azerbaijani lobbying in the State of New Mexico.   

According to the article, one might be able to argue that Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen is simply naive when she says those paying for the 10-day, 14,000-mile trips expect nothing in return.

At the very least, the trips have earned the Azerbaijani government inofficial state legislative memorials.

The authors remind that at least 25 New Mexico legislators attended a convention in Baku in 2013, the trip being surreptitiously financed by Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company.

Papen said she is comfortable with being feted by “countries out there that are trying to be democracies and are friends with the United States.”

But, according to the newspaper, the efforts of the country’s ruling party to foster a true democracy are rather debatable. The examples are apparent: Azerbaijan is listed as one of the 10 most censored countries in the world. And Amnesty International says the government there has imprisoned journalists and political activists.

“New Mexico is hardly the only state legislature on Azerbaijan’s guest list,” the newspaper writes, noting that in 2013 Azerbaijan spent more than $2 million lobbying in the United States.