Mexican Governor Maru Hands Out Gifts and Rivers of Public Money to Media and Famous Journalists From Mexico City
This article by Arturo Daen originally appeared in the October 25, 2026 edition of SinEmbargo, an independent Mexican digital news outlet.
Mexico City, October 25 (SinEmbargo).— To confront criticism and attempt to polish their public image, the state Government of Maru Campos and that of the National Action Party (PAN) in the municipality of Chihuahua have racked up millions in spending of public resources on official advertising, events, the hiring of artists, influencers and media personalities, as well as the purchase of gifts.
Campos’s administration has so far allocated at least 2.6 billion pesos to advertise itself on television, radio and the internet, with contracts for Televisa for at least 96.8 million pesos, according to data from its Communications office, and for TV Azteca for 89 million; in addition to paying 21.7 million pesos to Latinus for its propaganda (including a contract in 2024 for 12.7 million and another for 9 million); 2.3 million to the company Alazraki Bross TV, of Atypical Te Ve, and 2 million to the news site of Joaquín López Dóriga, among other media outlets.
In addition, according to documents from the Public Account and from Chihuahua’s Secretariat of Finance, this year its Public Relations Coordination will reach spending of 433 million pesos on the payment of meals, gifts for business people and politicians, food baskets and even tamales.
For example, spending of 1.317 million pesos by the state Government was found for the purchase of more than 1,500 ties and scarves from brands such as Pineda Covalín, with “elements alluding to the state of Chihuahua,” to give away, promote the cultural heritage of the state and “foster” the relationship of the state Executive “with business and social sectors and various levels of government.”
SinEmbargo’s Data Unit also found spending of 440,000 pesos by the Government of Maru Campos on the purchase of desk lamps “with an electric wax warmer” and of 800 acrylic boxes in 2022 with walnuts and an “ornament representative of the state of Chihuahua,” to give to business people and other social or political actors, and supposedly thereby exalt the culture of the state and its artistic expressions.
The Culture Institute of the Municipality of Chihuahua, meanwhile, paid in July 2024 the host Adela Micha 1.5 million pesos for a lecture at the event “Referencia norte 2024,” according to the contract available on the National Transparency Platform.
For the same event it made a payment of 255,000 pesos for a talk by the influencer Farid Dieck, and this year it allocated 295,000 pesos for a lecture by the actor and also content creator Alan Estrada.
Other Media Personalities and Artists Hired by Chihuahua
Last January, the Municipal Water and Sanitation Board of Chihuahua signed a contract for 2.95 million pesos to hold the ChiguAgua Fest event, whose speakers included the host Chumel Torres of Radio Fórmula.
The contract signed with Luis Felipe Nevárez Portillo mentions that the amount included the “booking and management of the local and national talent that will participate in the forum,” although the specific payment allocated to Chumel is not detailed.
For hosting the event “Referencia Norte 2024,” the Culture Institute of the Municipality of Chihuahua paid 232,000 pesos to the media personality Maca Carriedo, and 104,000 for the production of a podcast.
The same body, the Culture Institute, signed contracts for the performance of international artists such as Ricky Martin, allocating 13 million pesos for the setup and teardown of production, dressing rooms, sound and lighting; while, according to the site ZonaFree, the Secretariat of Culture of the Government of Maru Campos signed a contract for 30.8 million for the concert in 2024.
The records of the Culture Institute of the Municipality of Chihuahua also show payments of 20 million for an Alejandro Sanz concert, and of 2 million for a concert by the singer Natalia Jiménez, among other artists.
Official Advertising With La Saga and an Agency That Promoted the PRI
The contracts available on the National Transparency Platform show that the Government of Maru Campos has paid 26 million pesos to the agency Limón Publicistas of Juan Carlos Limón, the most recent payment for 17 million, for the production of its institutional campaigns. Limón was Enrique Peña Nieto’s go-to publicist and also took part in marketing work for other PRI politicians, such as the former governors Roberto Borge Angulo, of Quintana Roo, and Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz, of Nuevo León.
With the company Conducción de Telecomunicaciones, behind Adela Micha’s site La Saga, a contract was found in 2022 for 2.3 million pesos; one with Nexos, for 1.2 million; contracts for 8.2 million with the companies Periódico Digital Sendero and Now New Media, and for 25.9 million pesos with Excélsior and Grupo Imagen.
As for Carlos Loret de Mola’s Latinus, official advertising contracts with the company BCG Limited Consulting total 21.7 million pesos, split between a contract for 12.7 million in 2024 and another for 9 million this year.
The organization Article 19 placed Chihuahua among the five states with the highest social communication spending, as it allocated 0.6 percent of its entire budget to that work.
“46.6 percent of the total budget accrued in this area was granted to 8.3 percent of the roster of suppliers that received more than 10 million pesos in contracts. The country’s two main television networks were the ones that received the largest amounts from this PAN government: TV Azteca S.A.B. de C.V. with 37.62 million pesos and Televisa,” Article 19 stated.
Tamales, Home Appliances, Food Baskets…
In the review of data from the Public Relations Coordination of Maru’s Government, a contract was found for 183,000 pesos in 2022 for the purchase of electronic devices and home appliances that the Campos Government would give away at a “megaposada” in the Vistas Cerro Grande neighborhood of Chihuahua. The contract details the acquisition of 10 electric stoves, 6 steam irons and 10 water tanks, among other items.
The purchase, the contract stated, would be to promote Mexican traditions, with a message of peace and harmony, and so that people would feel “the support of the governmental powers.”
Also in 2022, in December, the state administration bought 45 food baskets for 111,243 pesos, which the Governor would hand out in the municipality of Sisoguichi.
Meanwhile, in January 2023, ahead of Candlemas Day and a celebration in the municipality of Chihuahua, the Public Relations Coordination bought 5,000 tamales for 107,300 pesos, “promoting the closeness of the Executive with the State of Chihuahua, with the citizenry.”
Maru’s Communications and PR Bought Cars From a Family Business
The Public Relations Coordination of the Government of Maru Campos bought three current-year pickup trucks in 2023 from the company Tu Mejor Agencia Automotriz, for 1.424 million pesos, to “make its functions more efficient and guarantee the fulfillment of its responsibilities, with the equipment of new vehicles that will help with them,” as the contract reads.
That dealership, as documented by journalist Dulce Olvera, of the SinEmbargo Data Unit, was founded by Maru Campos’s former husband, Víctor Manuel Cruz Russek (1950-2025), and his children are partners.
In the case of the Social Communication Coordination, in 2023 it bought from Tu Mejor Agencia Automotriz a current-year pickup truck worth 484,900 pesos, and two sedans for 539,000 pesos.
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