Mexican Lawmaker Accuses Journalists of ‘Dirty War’ Against Potential Gubernatorial Candidate

Cancún, Quintana Roo — A Mexican lawmaker has accused journalists of waging a “dirty war” against a potential gubernatorial candidate, highlighting growing political tensions in Quintana Roo even before formal election campaigning has begun.

During an appearance on the digital program “Estado de los Estados,” hosted by journalist Lilia Arellano, Deputy Ricardo Velasco attacked media figures he claimed were targeting Rafael Marín Mollinedo, who is considering a bid for the Morena party’s gubernatorial nomination.

Velasco asserted that the attacks come from “the same journalists who served Roberto Borge” and now support the political project of Senator Eugenio Segura, whom he described as a “super-early candidate” since 2024. He claimed Segura is trying to present himself as an “authentic” Morena member when “everyone knows he is not.”

The program host noted that a confrontation already exists between Marín Mollinedo’s and Segura’s projects, and suggested it was wise for Marín Mollinedo’s team not to respond to the accusations. The discussion also referenced statements by politician Carlos Cardín, who has said Segura’s early political positioning has generated premature readings of the succession and weakened institutional narratives.

The scene created a notable paradox: Velasco’s accusations about journalists who benefited from former Governor Roberto Borge Angulo were made precisely on Lilia Arellano’s program. Arellano was previously reported to have received multi-million peso contracts during the administration of Borge, a former PRI governor who has been imprisoned for nearly nine years since his arrest in Panama.

According to a 2013 investigation published by Noticaribe, Borge’s government allegedly directed public resources to various media outlets and journalists to bolster the PRI and discredit opposition parties. Arellano was among those named, with contracts reportedly worth millions of pesos.

Today, Arellano appears aligned with Marín Mollinedo’s project, adding a layer of contradiction to Velasco’s discourse. The lawmaker accuses media alignments inherited from the Borge era while making his accusations on a program historically linked to that same period.

Beyond the exchange of accusations, the episode confirms that the internal Morena contest for the eventual gubernatorial candidacy is playing out largely in media territory, with competing narratives, disqualifications, and premature readings of a succession that has not formally begun.