Rubén Rocha, the Most Troublesome Governor for Mexico's President
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
MEXICO CITY — Rubén Rocha Moya, a 76-year-old politician from the ruling Morena party, has not only been one of the most challenging governors for Mexico's president but has also placed her in a difficult position after becoming the first sitting governor formally accused by Donald Trump's administration of having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. This development forces the president to choose between her party and relations with the United States. Rocha, a career professor and former rector of Sinaloa's university, had twice aspired to govern his state before becoming a close ally of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024). He served as a senator before taking office as governor of Sinaloa in late 2021—a state in northern Mexico known as the birthplace of some of the country’s most notorious drug traffickers and home to one of the world's most powerful criminal organizations, labeled a terrorist group by Trump's administration. Rocha was a staunch supporter of López Obrador’s “Hugs, Not Bullets” strategy, which aimed to address the root causes of violence but was widely criticized for failing to combat cartels, allowing them to expand their territorial control. Allegations of ties to the Sinaloa Cartel have long shadowed Rocha, partly because he hails from Badiraguato, the same municipality where Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Loera was born. Rocha is nearly of the same generation as Guzmán and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, the cartel’s co-founders, both of whom are currently imprisoned in the United States. The governor also accompanied the former president on controversial visits, including one where López Obrador greeted El Chapo’s mother.