Félix Salgado Macedonio has politically survived electoral defeats, allegations of sexual violence, accusations related to organized crime, and even the cancellation of his candidacy for governor.
When his path to the governorship of #Guerrero was finally blocked, something extraordinary happened:
the candidate ended up being his daughter.
THE “TORO” WHO GREW UP WITH THE LEFT
Born in 1957 in Guerrero, Salgado built his career from the political left. He served as a federal deputy, senator, and member of the #PRD for decades. He even ran twice for governor: he lost in 1993 to Rubén Figueroa Alcocer and again in 1999 to René Juárez Cisneros.
His moment of greatest political power came in 2005, when he won the mayoralty of #Acapulco.
But he governed a port city where criminal violence was beginning to take an increasingly brutal form.
In 2006, following a series of executions and attacks against police officers, reports emerged of alleged agreements between authorities and drug traffickers. Salgado denied having made any deals with criminal groups. What was striking was that during his campaign he himself had stated that drug traffickers had offered to finance him, although he later retracted those statements.
There is no court ruling proving that Salgado worked for drug trafficking.
But the accusations did not end in Acapulco.
THE WOMEN WHO ACCUSED HIM
Salgado later left the PRD and joined the movement led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador. With Morena, he regained political strength: in 2018, he returned to the Senate.
And in 2020, he achieved what he had been seeking for decades: Morena selected him to run for governor of Guerrero.
That was when his past resurfaced.
Several women publicly accused him of sexual misconduct. One complaint concerned alleged events that supposedly occurred in 1998; another was filed by a former employee of La Jornada Guerrero, who accused him of incidents she placed in 2016.
Former Guerrero state prosecutor Xavier Olea publicly stated that the latter case contained enough evidence to be brought before a judge and accused the government of Héctor Astudillo of preventing the case from moving forward. Astudillo denied intervening.
Journalistically, allegations involving at least five women were documented.
The distinction is essential: Félix Salgado was not convicted of rape.
But politically, something difficult to forget happened.
Morena reviewed his candidacy and ordered the internal poll to be repeated… and Salgado once again emerged as the winner.
HE DID NOT FALL BECAUSE OF THE ALLEGATIONS
Ultimately, what the sexual allegations failed to accomplish was achieved by an electoral irregularity.
The INE determined that Salgado had failed to properly submit his campaign-preliminary income and expenditure report. The Electoral Tribunal ultimately upheld the loss of his candidacy on April 27, 2021.
Félix responded by leading demonstrations against the INE and made statements against electoral council members that drew strong criticism.
It appeared to be the end of his dream of governing Guerrero.
It was not.
IF IT WASN’T THE FATHER, IT WAS THE DAUGHTER
Morena needed another candidate.
The person selected through an internal poll was Evelyn Salgado Pineda, Félix’s daughter.
Legally, saying that Félix simply “imposed” her would be incorrect: #Morena conducted an internal selection process, and Evelyn subsequently had to win a constitutional election.
Politically, however, the family continuity was impossible to hide.
Her father appeared actively during the campaign. Evelyn even used the nickname “La Torita,” an unavoidable reference to the “Toro.”
On June 6, she won.
Félix had lost the candidacy.
But the Salgados retained the candidacy, won the election, and reached the Government Palace.
AND THEN “LOS ARDILLOS” APPEARED
The story would have another chapter.
In 2024, Celso Ortega Jiménez, identified as a leader of Los #Ardillos, claimed in an interview with Latinus that an alleged operative of Félix Salgado, Galdino Nava Díaz, had held meetings with his organization.
Salgado rejected the accusation and denied that Nava was his emissary.
To date, there is no judicial ruling proving that Félix Salgado belongs to or made an agreement with Los Ardillos.
But the episode once again placed his name alongside accusations involving organized crime, almost two decades after the controversies that accompanied his administration in Acapulco.
And once again, he survived politically.
Today, Félix #SalgadoMacedonio is back in the Senate.
Evelyn governs Guerrero.
Perhaps that is the real fact that explains the political figure: Félix has lost elections, changed parties, faced serious allegations, lost a candidacy through a ruling by electoral authorities, and accumulated accusations over decades; even so, his family ultimately conquered the position he was never able to obtain—or perhaps still intends to obtain.
The “Toro” never managed to become governor of Guerrero.
But to retain power, apparently, he did not even need to be one.
Does the Salgado case represent the continuation of a political project, or the construction of a new family dynasty in Guerrero?
Source: mexicodailypost
