MEXICO CITY, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha, indicted by U.S. federal prosecutors on drug-trafficking, bribery and cartel-protection charges, again requested a leave of absence from office on Saturday, days after defiantly reclaiming his post.
Rocha's return was not well received by either the Mexican government or the ruling Morena party, which accused him of prioritizing his personal interests over those of the public.
Earlier on Saturday, President Claudia Sheinbaum warned on X that "power without principles becomes arrogance" and "no personal interest can ever be above those of the people or the Nation," intensifying the political firestorm, without directly naming Rocha. Echoing her words, Rocha posted a statement on X saying that "Sinaloa, the nation, and the transformation movement are above all else."
Rocha, 77, a member of Sheinbaum's Morena party, returned to office on Friday after more than three months on leave following U.S. drug-trafficking charges.
In April, U.S. prosecutors alleged Rocha and nine other current and former officials conspired with a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel known as Los Chapitos, helping it to traffic drugs into the U.S. in exchange for political support and bribes.
Washington's move marked a rare expansion of anti-cartel action beyond drug bosses to include a sitting senior Mexican politician. Rocha has described the U.S. case as a politically motivated attack on Sheinbaum's movement.
Sheinbaum's government previously said Washington did not provide sufficient evidence to justify Rocha's arrest or extradition, even as her administration opened its own investigation.
But there were signs that Rocha's return to power was received coolly by Sheinbaum and Morena, underscoring lingering tensions within the ruling party over the case.
(Reporting by Dessiré Carrion and Ana Isabel Martinez; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by William Mallard and Thomas Derpinghaus)
