Morena in Congress, a closure of successive scandals

MEXICO CITY ( Proceso ).- The close of the first year of the LXIV Legislature, made up of an absolute majority of Morena and its allies, is marked by the scandals involving the legislative leaders of the ruling party.

Today marks the last day of the first year in the Chamber of Deputies, whose Board of Directors was chaired by Sergio Gutiérrez Luna, and in the Senate of the Republic, chaired by Gerardo Fernández Noroña. Both have been exposed to public opinion in recent weeks.

But they're not the only ones. The party leaders, Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández and Representative Ricardo Monreal Ávila, have been involved in their own scandals, albeit of varying magnitude.

The crisis for Morena's legislative leaders began in the second half of July, when the Hernán Bermúdez Requena case landed Adán Augusto López Hernández in trouble.

It was at the start of López Hernández's governorship, in early 2019, that Bermúdez Requena was appointed Secretary of Public Security in Tabasco, despite the accusations against him, which worsened after the leak of military documents known as Guacamaya Leaks in 2022.

By then, Bermúdez Requena was identified as the leader of the La Barredora criminal group, which even the official himself ruled out as an organized criminal group active during the days of the scandal.

President López Obrador dismissed the leak and, in particular, the involvement of Adán Augusto, who took over as Secretary of the Interior that year. For the then president of Mexico, it was fantasies, attacks by the conservative press on his government.

But on July 22, after several publications about an alleged arrest warrant against Bermúdez Requena, it was at the so-called "people's morning press conference," a press conference led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, that Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed that he had been under investigation since 2024 and that there was an arrest warrant, including an Interpol red notice.

The case plunged Adán Augusto López Hernández into a widespread controversy, with various statements from President Sheinbaum, who ultimately recommended that he explain the allegations. When López Hernández finally appeared before the media, he simply stated that he was unaware of the accusations against his former collaborator.

With the start of the holiday season, the pressure on López Hernández eased as the public agenda shifted elsewhere.

Travel, luxuries

The scandal that engulfed Morena's parliamentary coordinator in the Senate of the Republic was surpassed by the attention garnered by the luxury trips of several legislators and some officials from Morena.

The international travel exhibition featured visits to luxury hotels and restaurants by former Morena leader and Education Secretary Mario Delgado, who was in Portugal; Andrés López Beltrán, the party's Organization Secretary and son of former President López Obrador, in Tokyo, Japan; and Ricardo Monreal Ávila, the coordinator of the Morena deputies, among others.

Monreal was spotted the third week of July at the Rosewood Villa Magna in Madrid, while having breakfast at the Flor y Nata restaurant, according to the newspaper Reforma . It is one of the most expensive and exclusive hotels in the Spanish capital, but Monreal denied his stay.

The travel situation coincided with his failure to attend the Morena National Congress, which also fueled part of the discussion. But above all, there was the fact that CATEM leader Pedro Haces, one of Monreal's federal deputies, owns a property near Madrid where he allegedly held a party with several friends during those days.

Monreal Ávila's denial about his stay at the Villa Magna, where a night can cost up to 45,000 Mexican pesos, also sparked controversy, as he appeared in shorts and flip-flops, justifying the trip as a celebration of his wedding anniversary.

Monreal's trip, however, enjoyed the distraction that López Beltrán allowed, as journalist Claudio Ochoa Huerta of Latinus observed him not only staying at the grand Okura Hotel, but also shopping at the exclusive Prada store.

For Morena's national leader, Luisa María Alcalde Luján, the issue was that Morena supporters were going on vacation using their own resources, not public funds. The discussion about austerity then reached the "people's morning press conference," where President Sheinbaum presented various considerations around a common idea: "power is exercised with humility."

The presidential stance prompted a shift in Mayor Luján's discourse, more in the president's line of reasoning, and just when it was hoped the matter would be settled, López Beltrán issued a statement that was criticized by both insiders and outsiders, for example, as in the case of Gerardo Fernández Noroña, who called the letter "terrible."

Other luxuries and “Protected Data”

In parallel with the scandals surrounding Adán Augusto López Hernández and the lavish trips of Morena leaders, on July 11, Sonora citizen Karla Estrella began publishing a 30-day public apology to "Dato protegido" (Protected Data).

The electoral court ruled that the Twitter user had politically abused Diana Barreras, a legislator who is the spouse of Sergio Gutiérrez Luna, for criticizing what she considered an act of nepotism in the politician's appointment as a candidate for federal deputy in 2024.

The electoral court debates kept Barreras's name as "Protected Data" to avoid publicity about the case. However, it did not go unnoticed by activists, freedom of expression advocates, and social media users who popularized the hashtag for a month.

That month led to other revelations about the couple, who were prone to expensive clothing and attending high-priced events, such as the exclusive Formula 1 party, valued at around 170,000 pesos per person.

The attention the couple garnered led journalists, most notably Guadalajara native Jorge García Orozco, to chronicle their lifestyle, featuring expensive clothing, jewelry, and works of art: Cartier, Tiffany, Versace, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Christian Louboutin; Balenciaga, Kenzo, and Ferragamo pieces; Hublot watches; and expensive works of art decorating the sets of their Instagram exhibitionism.

"They're smear campaigns," downplayed Gutiérrez Luna, who didn't see the scandal end until about ten days before the end of his term as president of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Deputies.

Fernández Noroña, the mansion and the coup

Always controversial, Gerardo Fernández Noroña was one of the politicians long known for his austerity. As a congressman in 2006, he was the only one who cut his salary in half, as Andrés Manuel López Obrador had promised.

During periods of legislative unemployment, Fernández Noroña used to display himself on a street clothesline selling used books, allegedly to support himself. And, like few others throughout his long parliamentary career, he denounced excesses and eccentricities in public life.

But in recent years, things have changed. First, he acquired a Volvo SUV; later, he broadcast from his home in Tepoztlán, Morelos. He was seen traveling first class to Europe, a fact he justified by his stature and took the opportunity to denounce the inhumanity of airlines offering cramped seats in economy class.

Before "Protected Data," he secured a sanction for a citizen who assaulted him in a lounge at Mexico City Airport. He also forced him to appear before the Senate to apologize, even though he was the president of the Board of Directors.

He himself, in his asset declaration, reported that it cost 12 million pesos and that he had acquired it with a loan. But when the matter was raised and he was questioned about it, he held a press conference where he justified it as the result of his own hard work.

Although the discussion centered on the idea of ​​"austerity," the core of the argument revolved around the contrast between assets and income: two Volvo vehicles worth almost two million pesos and the house in Tepoztlán. Fernández Noroña chose to reveal the alleged ownership of the journalist who exposed him, Azucena Uresti, who ultimately denied the claim. He also attacked Ricardo Salinas Pliego when questioned by a TV Azteca reporter and revealed the asset declarations of several opposition leaders.

With the controversy still raging, on August 27, an argument with Senator and PRI leader Alejandro Moreno Cárdenas escalated into shoving and slapping at the end of the Senate session, and with that, the property issue was settled, as he had become a victim of PRI aggression.

Today, August 31, the Chambers of Deputies and Senators will hold their preparatory sessions to elect the presidents of the board of directors. Gutiérrez Luna and Fernández Noroña will leave office and remain in office like any other legislators.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary coordinators will remain Adán Augusto López Hernández in the Senate and Ricardo Monreal in the Chamber of Deputies, the latter two now safe from the storm.