“Patricia Imelda López Navarro, wife of Governor Víctor Castro, mobilized the full resources of the SEDIF government apparatus to launch slogans against the President of the United States.”
La Paz, Baja California Sur — Patricia Imelda López Navarro, wife of Baja California Sur Governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío, publicly challenged U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday night, demanding the release of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was arrested in Caracas on January 3 and faces charges including narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, weapons violations, and corruption.
Speaking in an interview, López Navarro declared, “Right now, the sovereignty of our country is at stake. People may say it’s not, but it is. Just yesterday or the day before, we didn’t think something like this could happen in Venezuela—and now it is happening.”
The First Lady expressed concern over a potential U.S. military intervention in Mexico targeting political figures linked to organized crime within the ruling Fourth Transformation (4T) movement. Among those she fears could be implicated is her husband, Governor Castro, who has been named in public banners (narcomantas) across the state alleging he receives $700,000 weekly from criminal organizations.
“I was listening to a statement from the U.S. president: ‘Hold on, we’re not talking about Venezuela right now. In a few days, we’ll talk about Greenland.’ And he could just as easily have said, ‘In two months, we’ll talk about Mexico.’ The people must unite,” she said.
López Navarro, who also heads the state’s Family Development Agency (SEDIF), mobilized the agency’s full apparatus to organize what was billed as an anti-imperialist protest against the alleged U.S. invasion of Venezuela. The demonstration took place on Monday, January 5, at the Kiosko on the La Paz malecón.
“Today, Monday. For national sovereignty. For national unity in support of our president. Time to take a stand,” she wrote in a public message, referring to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and her party coalition (MORENA, PT, and PVEM).
Despite the official push, the protest drew a sparse crowd—reportedly no more than 10 to 20 participants. Most of those present were government officials, including:
1. Marco Antonio Gutiérrez de la Rosa – Director of the Federal Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation Center (SICT).
2. Bertha Montaño Cota – Secretary of Finance and Administration, BCS.
3. Alicia Meza Osuna – Secretary of Public Education, BCS.
4. Rosa Cristina Buendía Soto – State Comptroller, BCS.
5. Luis Alberto Ceseña Romero – Director General, SEDIF.
6. Brenda María Sánchez Castillo – Director of Administration and Finance, SEDIF (and niece-in-law of the governor).
7. Perla Janneth Berumen Cordero – Director of Social Assistance and Integration, SEDIF (a close friend of the governor’s daughter).
8. Heriberto Martín Lemus Berber – Director of Priority Population Services, SEDIF.
9. Juan Carlos Peña Bañuelos – Deputy Director, State Rehabilitation and Special Education Center.
10. Mauricio Medrano Vargas – Director of Supervision and Evaluation, SEDIF.
11. Patricia Imelda López Navarro – Head of SEDIF and First Lady of BCS.
The event, lacking grassroots support, was largely seen as a symbolic gesture orchestrated by state officials.
Related Article: https://metropolimx.com/governor-of-baja-california-sur-demands-that-donald-trump-release-nicolas-maduro/
Reflecting on the protest, López Navarro posted on social media: “In the 1980s, here in La Paz, we were also defending Latin American sovereignty—Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala… and other struggles. Then and now, the SAME AGGRESSOR. The U.S. government, which only cares about our natural resources. Yesterday and today, they are present.”
Ironically, López Navarro and her family—including her husband, daughters Marcela and Patricia Castro López, son-in-law Adrián Sobarso Larrañaga, and grandson Víctor Sobarso Castro—are known to frequently vacation in the United States.
