Overview
- Rubén Rocha Moya sent a written request to the Sinaloa Congress asking for an indefinite temporary leave from the governorship after briefly returning to his office.
- The petition was delivered to Manuel de Jesús Guerrero Verdugo, president of the Diputación Permanente, and the state legislature has received the request but has not scheduled an extraordinary session to name an interim governor.
- Rocha's filing offered no explanation for the new leave and said only that he acted “por así considerarlo pertinente,” leaving unanswered why he reversed course within about 24 hours.
- President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly condemned what she called personal ambition for power and said she learned of Rocha's return from his social media post, while Morena governors and legislators have publicly distanced themselves and demanded responsibility.
- The episode is driven by U.S. investigations that have identified Rocha as a subject of alleged links to organized crime, a development that raises legal and diplomatic pressure, deepens local governance uncertainty, and risks further reputational harm to Morena