Mexico City — two members of the mexican presidency claudia sheinbaum’s The party in northwestern Sinaloa state said it would temporarily step down from its posts after the United States charged it and eight other politicians and security officials with drug trafficking. bombing indictment that shook mexico political establishment.
In a short video announcement at midnight Friday, Governor Ruben Rocha Moya, the highest-ranking official named in the indictment, denied allegations that he protected the Sinaloa Cartel and helped smuggle drugs into the US in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes.
“My conscience is clear,” said Rocha, 76, a longtime aide of the influential former president. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. “To my people and my family, I can look into your eyes because I have never betrayed you, and I will never betray you.”
But he said he would take temporary leave from his post for six years to defend himself against “false and malicious” allegations and to cooperate with the Mexican government’s investigation.
Juan de Dios Gámez Mendivil, the mayor of Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, also named in the indictment, said he would take leave and denied the allegations. In a special vote on Saturday, the state’s local Congress appointed Rocha ally Yeraldin Bonilla Valverde, who previously served as the state’s government secretary, as interim governor.
As governor and mayor, Rocha and Gámez Mendevil have immunity from criminal prosecution, so Mexico’s Congress would first have to impeach them if they were to face charges. His decision to take temporary leave rather than resign allows him to retain that immunity.
Sheinbaum has had to struggle to balance between the interests of his progressive Morena Party and Pressure From us President Donald Trump Stepping up the fight against cartels.
Pointing to her party’s anti-corruption platform, Sheinbaum said she would not defend anyone who committed a crime.
But he staunchly defended Mexico’s sovereignty, pledging that if federal authorities uncovered “irrefutable” evidence linking the 10 convicted executives to cartel crime, the accused would be tried in Mexico, not the U.S. — a move that risks a backlash from the U.S. administration. threatened military action Against the cartels on Mexican soil.
“We will never subordinate ourselves because this is a matter of the dignity of the Mexican people,” he said on Friday.
Pending the investigation, the Mexican Attorney General’s office said it would not arrest Rocha or other accused officials, as requested by the US.
Rocha, a point person for Hug with hands, not with bullets The video emphasizes that the indictment represents a political attack on Morena, an approach introduced by López Obrador to combat organized crime and which Sheinbaum has since abandoned.
He said, “I will not allow myself to be used to harm the movement to which I belong – which has improved the lives of millions of Mexican men and women.”
Born in the same town as a notorious Mexican drug lord “El Chapo,” Rocha has been involved in similar scams before. In 2024, he was named in a published paper Written by a then-Sinaloa Cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction and turned over to US law enforcement. In the letter, the capo said he was on his way to meet Rocha when he was kidnapped.
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Debré reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
