Mexico’s Senate prepares to dissolve the Government of Tamaulipas state

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The majority in Mexico’s Senate is preparing a bill for the disempowerment of Tamaulipas, a process to dissolve the government of this northern state whose governor, Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, is accused of participating in organized crime and money laundering.

In a press conference this Monday, Ricardo Monreal, leader of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena), advised that he has already gathered enough votes to call an extraordinary session of the Upper House to address the matter.

“It is well-founded, and we could start the whole process,” Monreal said in relation to the disempowerment of Tamaulipas, a mechanism contemplated in Article 76 of the Mexican Constitution that empowers the Federation to intervene in a state.

However, the Morenista leader asked for “a time to wait so as not to generate more polarization” before proceeding with the dissolution of the Tamaulipas government.

Monreal said that the process should begin once the mid-term elections of next Sunday have passed and the Supreme Court of Justice has clarified the procedural situation in which the governor of the opposition National Action Party (PAN) finds himself.

The legal imbroglio over the governor’s case began last April 30, when Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, with a Morena majority, approved the lifting of García Cabeza de Vaca’s immunity to allow him to be prosecuted for corruption.

However, that same day, the Tamaulipas state legislature, controlled by the PAN, voted to maintain the governor’s immunity.

At the request of the Attorney General’s Office, a judge ordered the arrest of García Cabeza de Vaca on May 19. However, he obtained an injunction from another judge who considered that he still retains his immunity.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Justice has not yet decided whether to accept an appeal of unconstitutionality filed by the Tamaulipas assembly.

García Cabeza de Vaca has denounced that the arrest warrant has “political motives” and “was created at the National Palace”, the residence of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.