Breathe
By Sandra Romandía
The information came to me in a simple way: the son of Guadalupe Taddei, president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), had been hired by a minister openly sympathetic to Morena, the party of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. I found it incredible, especially given the context in which we find ourselves: in the midst of the discussion on judicial reform, a reform pushed by the president to weaken the only power not yet under the control of his party, it turns out that the recently graduated son of the president of the national electoral arbiter was hired by the minister who wants to preside over the Court. In the EMEEQUIS team, led by Santiago Alamilla, we did not take long to investigate.
We traced the lists of the three ministers who, without blushing, have shown their ideological alignment with Morena and the president. And it was in Yasmín Esquivel's paper, the minister accused of having plagiarized her university thesis, where we found the name of Luis Rogelio Piñeda Taddei, son of Guadalupe Taddei, as assistant secretary. Not only that: his salary amounts to 85 thousand pesos per month, despite the fact that the position requires at least two years of professional experience, something he could not fulfill, since he only obtained his law degree in 2024, as confirmed by the records to which we had access in EMEEQUIS. Upon discovering this, it seemed so far-fetched to us that we decided not to publish until we corroborated his identity by means of the young man's birth certificate. And, indeed, he was the son of the president of the INE, both from Sonora.
This finding has an alarming depth. Let us remember that when Guadalupe Taddei was appointed as president of the INE, there were already questions about her impartiality due to her family ties with the federal government, since several of her relatives are part of the Morenista machinery. Nonetheless, there was a desire to believe in his independence. We decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, as many do with other cases in which the public and private lives of individuals take divergent paths. But what we discovered in EMEEQUIS turned out to be a bomb with political implications of enormous magnitude.
What we reveal is not simply a case of influence peddling, but the weaving of a network in which the person who is destined to be the electoral arbiter in the election of ministers, judges and magistrates, has his son working at the service of a key minister, close to the president, who could be a candidate and who undoubtedly plays a decisive role in the judicial reform.
Is this part of an exchange of favors? When our reporter Frida Mendoza contacted Yasmín Esquivel's office to request an interview with both the minister and Luis Rogelio Piñeda Taddei, the staff claimed not to know the young man. But, after searching their internal records, they were surprised to find his name on the payroll. In the audios we publish, you can hear the disbelief of the staff upon verifying his presence. So, the question that arises is whether Luis Rogelio really works there or is he an "aviador", a mere beneficiary of a political favor who receives a million pesos a year paid with public money, without having the necessary experience for the position and without really going to that office.
How did Taddei's son get to such an important position so quickly? The answer points to connections, recommendations and political favors. Having the opportunity to interview Guadalupe Taddei to get her view on the subject, I noticed her visibly uncomfortable and nervous when I asked her questions. She claimed not to know if her son was working there and denied that there was a conflict of interest, although her answer was unconvincing.
Thanks to the collaboration of colleagues and sources close to the family, we learned that Luis Rogelio resided in Sonora until recently and that, suddenly, he has sought job opportunities in Mexico City in an environment in which he has no experience, but he does have his mother's connections. Here we can intuit the influence of political favors in his career, although this is speculation.
What is not speculative is the obvious ethical conflict: the son of the arbitrator who will oversee the elections of the ministers is on the payroll of a minister who has clear partisan leanings. This is contrary to the independence that INE should guarantee.
One more aspect: INE was decisive for the allocation of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, a process that ended up favoring Morena and its allies. According to our sources, Luis Rogelio was hired close to that decision, which casts more doubts on Taddei's performance during those crucial days. During the period of reflection and debate on the judicial reform, surprisingly, Taddei remained silent when a firm stance from INE was most needed. Coincidence?
Finally, I would like to comment that within hours of the publication of our report, Piñeda Taddei's name was removed from the official page of Esquivel's Supreme Court brief. This was not accidental. Afterwards, Esquivel's team began to contact those who shared our report in networks, alleging that EMEEQUIS had published false documents. Nothing could be further from the truth: we have the evidence, supported by official documents, audios and access to the Court's internal platform, where Luis Rogelio appears as assistant secretary to Minister Esquivel.
This episode leaves us with a bitter reality: once again, power is trying to disguise the truth as a lie. As these events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that in the Mexican political arena there is practically no one impartial left, beyond the reach of the fanaticism of the party in power. In the final stretch of López Obrador's term, Morena has decided to concentrate power in a systematic and questionable manner.
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Lord Acton's phrase resonates today with more force than ever in Mexico's public life.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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