There are politicians who govern poorly and learn. And there are politicians who govern poorly and continue doing the same thing, as if no one were watching. David Monreal belongs to the second group and wants to impose his will on the road to the 2027 elections.
David Monreal is the lowest-rated governor among Mexico’s 32 state governors. The governor of Zacatecas ranks at the very bottom in public approval—not even Rubén Rocha, who has been accused by the United States of having ties to organized crime, reached such a low position.
Monreal is approaching the end of his administration with the lowest approval ratings ever recorded for a governor in Zacatecas. It gives the impression that he simply does not realize that he does not understand.
His record supports that perception. In 2024, he strongly objected when Morena left Verónica Díaz, the former wife of his brother Luis Enrique Monreal, off the Senate ticket.
His defense was so forceful that he even sacrificed his brother Saúl, moving him to second place on the ticket. In the end, both candidates won seats in the Senate.
Now, two years later, without the slightest hesitation, Monreal has returned to the same strategy. He decided to take charge of the campaign of the mother of his nephews during Morena’s internal process to select its candidate for governor.
His goal is to neutralize Verónica’s rivals, Ulises Mejía, the favorite in the polls, and Geovanna Bañuelos, backed by the Labor Party (PT).
And if there were any doubts about what increasingly appears to be an obsession, over the weekend he led a Morena “informational assembly” with Verónica as the only gubernatorial hopeful present and told supporters that it is “the time for women.” A nice slogan, but the problem is that he openly violated the party’s governing documents and the rules of the internal process by publicly promoting her candidacy.
The situation becomes even more complicated because Morena’s national leadership—Ariadna Montiel and Citlalli Hernández—is already analyzing whether the party’s anti-nepotism rule applies to Verónica. Although she divorced Luis Enrique Monreal, she is the mother of two members of the Monreal family.
Party leaders in Mexico City also see what should be obvious: if the country’s lowest-rated governor exercised a bit of restraint, he would focus on finishing his administration responsibly.
Instead, he continues to damage his former sister-in-law’s political prospects in the most obvious and rule-breaking way possible, creating serious problems for his own party. Morena’s leadership may now be forced to distance itself from him, regardless of the political consequences.
While some politicians learn from their mistakes, David Monreal seems determined to accumulate them.
It will be at the end of August when Morena’s national leadership announces the list of those who will head the “Coordinations for the Defense of the Transformation” in the 17 states that will elect new governors.
For now, the party already has an assessment of the electoral landscape and considers Querétaro its most difficult gubernatorial race. Internally, they view it as nearly unwinnable.
In Zacatecas, if the Monreal family does not step back from the process, Morena could instead support Carlos Puente of the Green Party (PVEM), who currently enjoys the broadest consensus.
In Guerrero, party leaders are trying to prevent Félix Salgado from destabilizing the internal selection process. They know he wants a loyal ally to run for mayor of Acapulco, but he also continues to exert pressure over the gubernatorial nomination.
For the Mexican government, the main objective of its low-intensity dispute with the United States is to expose former U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar, leave behind a record of what it considers poor diplomatic management and interference in Mexico’s internal affairs, and send a message because the current U.S. ambassador, Ronald D. Johnson, has allegedly engaged in similar practices. In other words, as the saying goes: “I’m telling Chana so that Juana gets the message.”
Source: heraldodemexico
