Day 690 — Rocha Moya Requests Indefinite Leave Again After Sheinbaum, Morena Distance Themselves

On August 22, 2026 (Day 690, Saturday) at 6:40 p.m., Rubén Rocha Moya requested leave from the Sinaloa governorship for a second time — an indefinite leave submitted by letter to the state Congress — just one day after unilaterally reincorporating himself into the post over the April 29 U.S. DOJ indictment tying him to the Sinaloa Cartel's "Los Chapitos" faction. President Sheinbaum publicly distanced herself from his return, saying "Sinaloa, la nación y el movimiento de transformación están por encima de todo" and that "ningún interés personal" should be placed above "los intereses del pueblo y de la Nación," warning against "ambición desnuda del poder por el poder"; Morena and the Interior Secretariat also publicly broke with him. Former DEA director Derek Maltz called for Rocha's arrest and deportation. The Sinaloa Congress suspended its session to select an interim governor, postponing the decision.