Former Nuevo León Governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón was arrested Tuesday on electoral crimes charges, state authorities said.
Rodríguez, governor of the northern state between 2015 and 2021, was detained in the municipality of General Terán and taken to a prison in Apodaca, part of the metropolitan area of Monterrey.
The office of the Nuevo León Electoral Crimes Prosecutor said authorities acted on a warrant issued for his arrest due to his “probable participation in events with the characteristics of electoral crimes.”
Media reports said Rodríguez was detained for alleged embezzlement of public funds during his 2018 presidential campaign.
Current Nuevo León Governor Samuel García, previously a federal senator, filed a complaint against the former governor in 2018.
He posted a video to his Twitter account Tuesday in which he declared that he who “stole or diverted public resources to his friends, nephews, favorites or to campaigns will go to jail.”
Rodríguez, widely known as “El Bronco,” allegedly directed some 500 state officials to set aside their usual duties in order to collect signatures of support to ensure that he would appear on ballots for the 2018 presidential election. Many of the signatures were initially deemed to be invalid.
Rodríguez finished fourth among the four candidates, attracting the support of just over 5% of voters. He is well known for using blunt and colorful language during his political career, which also included periods as a state and federal lawmaker and mayor of the municipality of García.
During the first presidential debate in 2018, Rodríguez proposed that thieves should have their hands chopped off, an idea that was widely condemned and ridiculed.
With reports from El Financiero and Milenio
