When the government of 'El Bronco' sent its predecessor to the Topo Chico prison

On October 4, 2015, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, “El Bronco”, took office of the government of Nuevo León and during his first speech he said that he would do justice for the alleged deviations during the administration of his predecessor. PRI Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz was present at the solemn session of the local Congress, and although he was uncomfortable, he probably did not imagine that Rodríguez Calderón's warning would be fulfilled later, at least for a few hours.

Among the promises of the campaign of “El Bronco” to reach the government through independent channels was to carry out a thorough audit of the management of Medina de la Cruz, who would have used the position to benefit and enrich several members of his family.

Rodrigo Medina was accused of alleged irregularities in the signing of a contract with South Korean company Kia motors to establish a car assembly plant in Nuevo León. The accusations against Medina de la Cruz were about an alleged embezzlement of more than 3 billion pesos to the detriment of public funds.

In 2016, under the mandate of Rodríguez Calderón, the State Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, Ernesto Canales, claimed that there was an indictment against former governor Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz for the crime of defrauding more than 3.6 billion pesos for alleged irregularities in the case of the Kia shipbuilding plant.

In this way, in the early morning of January 26, 2017, Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz was arrested and admitted to the Topo Chico prison, where he only stayed for about 19 hours, as a federal judge ordered his release due to the breach of the protection that suspended the detention order against him.

The photograph of the former governor in the prison suit spread quickly and for the administration of “El Bronco” was a partial fulfillment of a campaign promise, as the detention could not be sustained more than a day. A couple of years later, Rodrigo Medina was exonerated as none of the crimes for which he was accused could be proven.

In October 2022, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón handed over the reins of the government of Nuevo León to Samuel Garcia, who in turn announced an audit on the management of El Bronco and warned that he would not allow impunity if acts of corruption were found.

Finally, on March 15, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón was arrested for his alleged responsibility for the diversion of resources from the state of Nuevo León. The arrest warrant was executed in the municipality of General Terán and, according to the first reports, he was taken to Apodaca Prison No. 2, where a supervising judge must define his legal status and it is possible that he will be determined to continue the criminal proceedings free.

After Samuel García's warnings, it is known that the court case is related to the so-called bronchosignatures, in which Rodríguez Calderón allegedly diverted money from the treasury, as well as human and material resources from the state to obtain the independent candidacy for the presidency of Mexico in 2018.

After the news of the arrest of “El Bronco” spread, the current governor, Samuel García, posted a message on his social networks: “It took 4 years and 4 months, but we finally did it #BroncoFirmas #NLincorruptible” referring to the date when the first complaint was filed on this case.

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