The art of political evasion with a Sinaloan touch
In a plot twist that not even the scriptwriters of Narcos: Mexico would have dared to capture, the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, decided that the most bombastic confession of recent drug trafficking is, simply and plainly, “history“. Like that, without further ado. As if to say “it’s over, let’s talk about the weather.”
The state leader, in a display of parsy worthy of a Buddhist monk, tried to dodge questions from the press regarding the statements of Ismael “El Mayo Zambada“, who, in a burst of inconvenient sincerity, admitted to having smeared the palm of half the political and police world for decades. “Don’t talk to me about that topic,” Rocha Moya blurted out, as if the journalists were asking her about her cooking recipe and not about one of the most grotesque revelations of institutional corruption.
The ostrich doctrine: if you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist
At the insistence of the reporters – how annoying they are, right? wanting to do his job -, the governor brought out the classic manual of the cornered politician: “We must present evidence and complaints.” Brilliant strategy. Because, clearly, the word of one of the most wanted drug traffickers on the planet needs to be supported by a notary and three witnesses to be minimally credible. Did they think that a confession was enough? Naive!
Rocha Moya, with a serenity that a professional poker player could well envy, aligned herself with the criteria of president Claudia Sheinbaum. Of course, because when it comes to alleged infiltrations of organized crime into the spheres of power, the most sensible thing is to wait for formal complaints to arrive. Surely any of these days they will arrive by certified mail.
Meanwhile, in the real world, the governor preferred to change course and talk about the wonders that occur in Sinaloa. And wow there is! It turns out that, according to the milkmaid’s accounts, the nightlife in Culiacán is in full swing. What a relief. Because nothing says “recovery of tranquility” like being able to go out for a beer without knowing if the club next door will be shot up. It is the Sinaloan miracle: bullets during the day, disco at night.
To give more flavor to his story of prosperity, the state executive took the INEGI statistics for a walk. Ah, the blessed figures! Those that show an improvement in the perception of security and a recovery of jobs. Of course, because when the drug trafficker pays better than the government, technically jobs are also created. Of course, with a retirement plan that is a little more… terminal.
The university: the perfect setting for distraction
To finish off her performance, Rocha Moya chose the campus of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa as a backdrop. Nothing like a little academic aura to give legitimacy to a speech. There, among future professionals, he praised the financial reengineering of Rector Madueña Molina and spoke of internal democratic life and gender parity. Commendably boring topics that managed to divert attention from the small details about institutionalized bribery.
In short, what we have here is a master class in political storytelling. When reality is so uncomfortable that it burns, it is best to declare it “history”, mix it with optimistic data and serve it with a side of elegant evasions. Bon appétit.
The final message? Everything is under control, the clubs are full and please don’t ask about the bribery thing unless you have a signed and notarized video. This is the new normal: where the abnormal is normalized with a smile and a favorable statistic.
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