18 of AMLO’s “superdelegates” face charges of nepotism, money diversion, and sexual abuse.
MEXICO CITY (Animal Político) – At least 18 Delegates of Development Programs, better known as “superdelegates,” have been reported for alleged acts of nepotism, abuse of authority, misuse of public resources, and even sexual abuse, crimes that are investigated by the Ministry of Public Function (SFP).
The superdelegates are the Federal Executive representatives in the states and are in charge of verifying the coverage and application of the government’s social programs. Governors have accused Andrés Manuel López Obrador of giving his delegates powers equal to the powers of the governors themselves. In turn, given their exposure at the state level, such officials positioned themselves as natural candidates for the states’ governorships where they operate.
Three of the officials under investigation left their posts in search of Morena’s candidacy for the government of their states. They are Juan Carlos Loera de la Rosa, delegate in Chihuahua; Índira Vizcaíno Silva, from Colima, and Pablo Amílcar Sandoval Ballesteros, from Guerrero, who is the brother of the head of the SFP, Irma Eréndira Sandoval Ballesteros.
According to information from the Internal Control Organ (OIC) of the Secretary of Welfare to which Political Animals had access, the ongoing investigations derive from complaints filed in 2019 and 2020.
In October of last year, Irma Sandoval revealed that nine delegates were under investigation for misuse of the social programs they are in charge of: Aldo Ruiz (Aguascalientes), Juan Carlos Loera (Chihuahua), José Antonio Aguilar Castillejos (Chiapas), Índira Vizcaíno (Colima), Mauricio Hernández Núñez (Guanajuato), Rodrigo Abdalá (Puebla), Gabino Morales (San Luis Potosí), José Jaime Montes Salas (Sinaloa) and Jorge Luis Taddei (Sonora).
The list of officials under investigation was doubled after the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF) ordered the OIC, which depends on the SFP, to investigate other delegates’ crime of personalized promotion with the improper use of public resources.
Proselytism in favor of AMLO
In file SER-PSC-71/2020, of December 2019, the Specialized Regional Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation concluded that 14 superdelegates violated Article 134 of the Constitution by campaigning for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador by distributing social programs.
The officials investigated by the OIC at the request of the TEPJF are the delegates from Guerrero/Pablo Amilcar Sandoval; State of Mexico/Delfina Gomez; Veracruz/Manuel Huerta; Yucatan/Joaquin Diaz Mena; Oaxaca/Nancy Ortiz Cabrera; CDMX/María Cristina Cruz, and Coahuila/Reyes Flores Hurtado, also Roberto Pantoja/Michoacán; Katia Meave/Campeche; José Antonio Aguilar Castillejos/Chiapas; Mauricio Hernández/Guanajuato; Rodrigo Abdalá/Puebla; Gabino Morales/San Luis Potosí, and Aldo Ruiz/Aguascalientes. Also Roberto Pantoja, from Michoacán; Katia Meave, from Campeche; José Antonio Aguilar Castillejos, from Chiapas; Mauricio Hernández, from Guanajuato; Rodrigo Abdalá, from Puebla; Gabino Morales, from San Luis Potosí, and Aldo Ruiz, from Aguascalientes.
Animal Politico indicates that several of these superdelegates are not only proselytized in favor of President López Obrador but also for themselves. This means the president himself is behaving in an immoral manner since these are his people. He handpicked them.
The superdelegate of San Luis Potosi, Gabino Morales Mendoza, has accumulated the greatest number of inquiries opened by the SFP against him (8 in total). The 2019/DE70 file began with a complaint accusing the official of committing acts of political proselytism in communities of Tamazunchale, where the delegate allegedly said that the social programs were coming thanks to him and the regional delegate Briseida García.
Allegations of sexual abuse
The most serious complaint against the delegate from San Luis Potosí, Gabino Morales, is part of file 2019/DE79, where he is accused of sexual abuse and harassment at work when he was a state leader of Morena. He is also accused of sexual aggression against women who work as Servants of the Nation.
In February 2019, federal deputies from Morena demanded that President López Obrador dismiss Morales Mendoza, who, they said, has continued to hold public office despite having been reported to the State Attorney General’s Office “for harassment, threats, illegal dissemination of images, sexual abuse, and political violence. Furthermore, they maintained, he was disqualified by the party’s disciplinary body, the National Commission of Honesty and Justice (CNHJ), without consequences for him.
In early October, it was reported in the media that another delegate, Manuel Huerta from Veracruz, was also criminally charged with alleged sexual abuse by the Attorney General’s Office. The media could not corroborate whether the SFP had filed a complaint against the official for these acts or whether the institution had initiated an ex officio investigation into the matter.
Accusations of nepotism
Juan Carlos Loera was until a week ago the federal delegate of Chihuahua, a position he left to run for Morena’s candidacy to the state government. This week he resumed his seat as a federal deputy.
In file 2019/DE45, the SFP investigates the official for alleged nepotism because one of his nieces, Myrna Brighite Granados de la Rosa, was hired in the delegation that he headed.
This accusation of nepotism even extends to the Undersecretary of Welfare, Ariadna Montiel, since the niece of the now ex-delegate worked in 2019 as his private secretary with a salary of 45,000 pesos a month, even though she had a degree.
The accusation includes two of Undersecretary Montiel’s compatriots: Luis Fernando Duarte González, regional delegate in Parral, and his wife, Ishtar Ibarra Barraza, area director of Welfare in Mexico City. Reforma confirmed last year that Montiel was the godmother of one of the daughters of that marriage.
The complaint adds that Ishtar Ibarra lives in Chihuahua, even though she should be in the country’s capital because of her position.
According to public records, other relatives of De la Rosa have positions in the SEP, SAT, and IMSS. In an interview, the now federal congressman said that his niece never worked for him directly in the state delegation.
A similar denunciation of nepotism concerns the super-delegate of Aguascalientes, Aldo Emmanuel Ruiz Sánchez. As part of the DGDI/DE84 file, it is noted that two of the official’s cousins, Mariana Acela Picazo Sánchez and Miguel Ángel Sánchez Ramos, were hired under Ruiz Sánchez.
The accusation states that both relatives entered the public service in the then National Coordination of Prospera, which initially depended on the delegation in charge of Ruiz Sánchez and later migrated to SEP.
The delegate acknowledged the family relationship but assured that he was not responsible for hiring his cousins. Besides, he said that they never worked directly for him.
Two other inquiries against Aldo Ruiz are related to alleged unjustified dismissals. One more to the personalized promotion denounced by the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation.
The former delegate from Colima, Índira Vizcaíno, was also denounced for alleged nepotism, in the file with folio 2020/DE27.
The complaint states that the sister of the now ex-delegate, Juaenedi Vizcaíno Silva, joined the Secretary of Welfare at the same time as her relative, an advisor to the head of the agency, at that time María Luisa Albores.
Subsequently, as of this year, Juaenedi Vizcaíno was promoted to Director of Liaison with Federal Public Administration Agencies and Entities of the National Council for the Development and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (Conadis), which is coordinated by the Secretariat of Welfare
