Luis Guillermo Benítez, “El Químico,” the former mayor of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, who was allegedly forced out of office during Rubén Rocha Moya’s administration, gave an interview to journalist Juan Pablo Pérez-Díaz, in which he revealed details about the situation.
Benítez stated that the extradition request from the United States government against Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa on leave, and other high-ranking officials in the state, would undoubtedly change the political landscape, not only of Sinaloa but of the entire country.
He said it was the first time such a request had been made in Mexican history and that he was aware the Attorney General’s Office was not accepting the extradition, which would likely result in very strong reprisals from the United States government.
He asserted that he was a victim of political persecution, as the governor had always been aware of the Mazatlán projects, many of which remained unfinished, and had told him they were perfect and to continue as they were. However, he stated in the interview, months later the governor called him and told him that what he had done was wrong and very serious, and that if he didn’t resign, he knew what could happen to him, since he was born in Badiraguato, Sinaloa, a place historically known as the cradle of drug trafficking in Mexico, as it is the birthplace of several of the country’s drug lords, including Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
“I don’t see that as a death threat, and honestly, I felt afraid at that moment, and I said to myself: well, if that’s how things are, I thought about it, and I decided to sign and accept my resignation, but the truth is that I was forced,” he explained.
Furthermore, he stated that the selection of the Morena party’s gubernatorial candidate for the state in 2021, in which he participated, was not fair.
“The one who won the poll, and Rocha Moya himself acknowledges this, was me. I won the poll in Sinaloa, but beforehand, aided by Rocha Moya’s protégé, Senator Enrique Inzunza, they fabricated an accusation against me to remove me from the path to the Sinaloa gubernatorial candidacy.”
He said that the 2021 election was very likely a narco-election, and that he had heard accounts from people who told him how Rocha Moya bribed many people close to former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) with millions of pesos.
“They formed a circle around President López Obrador to prevent me from being the candidate, because they had already negotiated with Rocha Moya. That doesn’t bother me anymore; I’ve moved on,” he said, adding that his current concern was that Rocha Moya be tried, preferably in the United States, since they could evade prosecution in Mexico.
He also said he was certain that former President López Obrador wanted him to be the gubernatorial candidate in 2021, but he wasn’t going to impose him. “He was cornered and forced to choose Rocha Moya,” he asserted.
He said he didn’t know who had pressured AMLO into making that decision, but that he had sources who assured him that Rocha Moya had distributed 40 million pesos to each of them at that time.
He also said that Senator Inzunza was the mastermind behind Rocha Moya.
Source: infobae
