Any Monday in Chihuahua, or not so much
It seems that Mondays are not only hard for ordinary mortals. The Attorney General’s Office (FGR), in a fit of enviable punctuality, decided that this beginning of the week was the perfect time to give an institutional hug to the former governor of Chihuahua, César Duarte Jáquez. The reason? His alleged and always denied friendship with the crime of money laundering. Federal sources, those who always know more than us, confirmed the move. The former PRI president, who enjoyed a comfortable regime of conditional freedom while facing other happy little issues of corruption, was invited to an urgent meeting in the city that he once governed. What a coincidence, right?
Walking through the Altiplano: an unsolicited trip
Duarte, who served as boss in the entity between 2010 and 2016 (a period that, according to investigations, was quite creative at an accounting level), will not stay to enjoy the Chihuahuan climate. Your next destination is the exclusive Federal Social Rehabilitation Center number 1, El Altiplano. A maximum security residential complex in the State of Mexico, reserved for guests who allegedly committed high-impact misdeeds. Quite a detail. This arrest is the culmination of a months-long investigation, which starts from a previous chapter: the extradition of the former governor from the United States in 2022. At that time, Chihuahua was demanding him for gems such as diversion of funds and unexplained enrichment. It seems that the menu of charges has just been expanded.
During the era of former PAN governor Javier Corral, a hole in the public coffers of about 6,000 million pesos was documented. A pittance, wow. Money that, according to the investigations, found a very loving way to benefit Duarte, materializing in properties in Mexico and the United States. After his return to homeland, and under the state government of María Eugenia Campos, the former president enjoyed certain procedural facilities. This situation generated more than one gesture of disapproval from the federal government, which pointed out – with all the irony that reality surpasses – the message of impunity that was being sent. Because nothing says “we believe in justice” like letting someone walk around accused of embezzling billions.
A change of direction (or of the prosecutor’s office)
The plot has a bureaucratic-delicious twist. For a year and a half, the Federation negotiated with the United States for permission to prosecute Duarte for federal crimes. It turns out that the initial extradition came with conditions, as if it were a cell phone offer, limiting the charges that could be filed. The long-awaited authorization arrived last week. Is anyone surprised that justice moves at the speed of a postal procedure? With this approval in hand, a federal judge issued the arrest warrant that the FGR zealously executed this Monday. This case represents the first major media movement – sorry, I meant relevant blow – of the Prosecutor’s Office under the leadership of Ernestina Godoy, who recently took the reins after the departure of Alejandro Gertz Manero. What a way to take office for the first time, making it clear that you are not playing games.
In summary, we have a former governor, a million-dollar accusation of money laundering, an extradition, controversial paroles and a new prosecutor making her first masterstroke. Politics in Chihuahua, and the fight against corruption in Mexico, continue to write chapters that surpass any soap opera. The only question left is: will this be the end of the saga or simply a new episode full of appeals and legal resources? Time, and the courts, will tell. Meanwhile, citizens observe, between skepticism and hope, whether this act of law enforcement marks a real turning point or is just another show in the circus of Mexican justice.
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