Former president Vicente Fox Quesada and four former governors of the National Action Party (PAN) formed a defense front for Ernesto Ruffo Appel, after the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) accused him of alleged crimes of organized crime and tax fraud.
At a press conference, Fox was accompanied by former governors Francisco Javier Ramírez Acuña and Alberto Cárdenas Jiménez, from Jalisco, as well as Juan Carlos Romero Hicks and Miguel Márquez Márquez, from Guanajuato. They demanded that the judicial process be carried out with transparency and adherence to the rule of law.
Fox stated that he “puts his hands in the fire” for who was the first opposition governor in the modern history of Mexico. He assured that the defense is not seeking privileges, but rather to guarantee that his constitutional rights are respected during the process.
The former president questioned the initial hearing against Ruffo Appel and pointed out that there are doubts about the impartiality of the procedure. He maintained that the accusations have a political background and recalled that large-scale fuel smuggling networks and tax fraud were previously reported.
Fox criticized the new Judiciary, which emerged from a popular election, which he described as a body without independence to guarantee fair processes. The former PAN governors insisted that the case must be resolved based on evidence and under the principles of legality and due process.



