Morena Distances Itself from Rocha Moya. Opposition Revives the “Narco-Party” Narrative.

ByRedacción / SinEmbargo

This article by Redacción / SinEmbargo originally appeared in the August 21, 2026 edition of SinEmbargo, one of Mexico’s leading independent digital news outlets.

Mexico City, August 21 (SinEmbargo).— Morena announced that it had no knowledge that Rubén Rocha Moya would return this Friday to his post as Governor of Sinaloa, and so it distanced itself from this strictly personal decision.

This leadership had no prior knowledge of the governor’s personal decision. Therefore, Morena distances itself from this decision.

Morena

It also recalled that the governor’s leave came after the accusations from the United States Department of Justice, which accuse Rocha of colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel, and it stressed that Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and other Mexican authorities are maintaining investigations on the matter.

“At Morena we will be respectful of the rule of law, of due process, as well as of the outcome of the investigations by the Attorney General’s Office, and we will continue acting with responsibility, prioritizing the interest of the citizenry and maintaining as fundamental principles transparency, accountability and unrestricted respect for institutions,” it asserted.

Previously, the Secretariat of Governance issued a communiqué in which it emphasized that Rocha Moya’s return to the governorship was a decision of a personal nature, and it added that the Attorney General’s Office has open investigation files related to the 10 people named by the U.S. Department of Justice, among them the Sinaloa governor.

“The Secretariat of Governance reports that Dr. Rubén Rocha Moya’s decision to reincorporate into his functions as Governor of the state of Sinaloa responds exclusively to a determination of a personal nature,” the representation of the Mexican Government stated.

Regarding the inquiry, it added that the Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE) has repeatedly asked the U.S. to provide the corresponding evidence to support the claims made, but that it is up to the Attorney General’s Office to provide any additional information it deems pertinent.

This Friday, Rocha Moya announced that he will once again assume his post as Governor of Sinaloa after remaining on leave for more than 112 days, and he maintained that he is innocent. He also described the accusations against him as false and “with political and interventionist motivations of the national and foreign far right.”

For their part, various opposition figures criticized the Morena member’s return to the governorship, among them Alejandro “Alito” Moreno, senator and leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI); Jorge Álvarez Máynez, leader of Movimiento Ciudadano (MC); and Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, of Somos México.

Through their social media, the opposition party leaders spread messages in which they reiterated their accusations of Morena as a “narco-party.”

“Alito” Moreno, leader of the PRI, published a message on his X account, formerly Twitter, in which he accused Rocha Moya of being a “narco-politician” backed by Morena and questioned that the Morena member is once again assuming his post as Governor of Sinaloa without having cleared up the accusations against him for allegedly having ties to organized crime.

“Rubén Rocha Moya and Morena are mocking the people of Sinaloa when they claim that the Attorney General’s Office already proved he committed no crime. This is further proof of how the Mexican State has turned the justice institutions into tools to grant impunity to the country’s worst criminals and to persecute, with all the power of the apparatus, those of us who dare to criticize them,” the message reads.

The PRI member asserted that his party “will not rest until it removes Morena from Sinaloa” and stated that the Morena member will again assume the state’s governorship without the backing of the Sinaloa population.

Álvarez Máynez, leader of MC, joined the opposition’s criticism of Rocha Moya’s return to the Government of Sinaloa with a message shared on his social media, in which he stated that this will be a “day of national shame.”

“It is a mockery of our country, the cynicism and impunity that this message represents,” the MC member posted, in a publication in which he cited the Morena member’s announcement.

The recently created party Somos México, linked to businessman Claudio X. González, published a communiqué in which it claimed that Rocha Moya’s return to the governorship is a decision by President Claudia Sheinbaum and her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), to protect Morena members accused of allegedly having ties to drug trafficking.

Furthermore, the document underscores that the Morena member’s return to the state’s governorship is an affront to the U.S. government and endangers the country’s sovereignty.

“Far from defending sovereignty, this decision places it in a position of vulnerability by turning the Rocha case into an irresponsible provocation and a confrontation with the United States, our main trading partner,” the communiqué says.

For his part, the leader of Somos México, Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, also published a message in which he asserted that President Sheinbaum is part of an impunity pact to protect Morena members accused of having ties to drug trafficking.

“The impunity pact, the protection of narco-terrorists, the cynicism and the cowardice will pursue President Claudia Sheinbaum forever. All to protect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, his accomplices and relatives, regardless of putting our country and its citizens at risk,” the message reads.