Ruben Rocha’s controversies
Meeting with “El Mayo Zambada”
In a letter attributed to the lawyer of drug trafficker Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada published this Saturday, August 10, it was stated that on July 25 there would be a meeting with the governor of Sinaloa to discuss issues related to the Sinaloa Cartel.
At a public event, the Sinaloa governor distanced himself from the meeting and stated that no drug trafficker or organized crime group had any reason to summon him for anything.
“Nobody from organized crime has to call me to a meeting. The day we are unable to attend to the affairs of the state, that day we will leave,” he explained.
Nepotism
Rocha Moya has been accused of alleged nepotism due to the allocation of positions to relatives and close people. His daughter, Eneyda Rocha Ruizholds an honorary position as head of the state DIF, and his godson, Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, He is the substitute mayor of Culiacán.
Star Palacios Dominguez, another goddaughter of the governor, was secretary of tourism of Sinaloa and in June 2024 was elected mayor of Mazatlán by the Morena party.
Re-election of AMLO
During a visit by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Sinaloa, Governor Rubén Rocha revealed that he proposed to the president to make a “little bend” in the law so that he could be re-elected for another term.
From La Concordia, Sinaloa, Rocha said that this proposal was intended to keep López Obrador in power to continue with the transformation of the country, despite the fact that the political constitution itself does not contemplate presidential reelection.
“I say that I don’t want him (President López Obrador) to leave. But he is stubborn that he is a Maderista president, the president is a follower of (Francisco I.) Madero, the one who said: ‘Effective suffrage, no reelection,'” he said.
“It is uglier to have a homosexual son”
The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, caused controversy by stating that it is more difficult for a family to have a child with addictions than a homosexual or disabled child.
“Fortunately, we have the issue of addictions under control (in Sinaloa), which is much worse than having a child with a disability or having a homosexual child. I am not homophobic, I ask you not to be, not to hate homosexual people,” he said.
These statements were made during his second Government Report on December 2, coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. These comments caused controversy among the LGBTTTIQ+ community and different sectors of society.
Yes to dialogue with drug traffickers
In April 2021, when he was Morena’s candidate for Governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya left the door open to engage in dialogue with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and the sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “Los Chapitos.”
“It would have to be done within the framework of a strategy that accommodates this… a national policy would have to be designed. I have no ties. I am from Badiraguato, I am not a boss, I am not a drug trafficker, it is not convenient for me at my age to change direction. We must abandon hypocrisy and look for a path that has not been explored,” said Moya at that time during an interview with Carlos Loret de Mola.
“Should we coordinate with drug traffickers?” asked the journalist who heads Latinus. “We have to find a way to do it. Governments in general deny any approach or conversation with criminals, however, contacts are made with government officials and drug traffickers. In that sense… we have to design a State policy that is reflected in the laws,” responded the then candidate.
Moya won the state election in Sinaloa a few months later and became the successor of former PRI member Quirino Ordaz Coppel.
