The donation of land to Mazda during Diego Sinhue's six-year term was illegal: Morena

GUANAJUATO, Gto. (apro) – Six months before the end of his administration, former Guanajuato Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo granted a plot of land measuring over 8,000 square meters to the automotive company Mazda, despite the fact that the State's Real Estate Assets Law prohibits this type of contract with private companies.

The Morena party in the local Congress made public the irregularity of the previous six-year term, which Governor Libia Dennise García Muñoz Ledo now sought to rectify by promoting before the Legislature the declassification and alienation of the land so that the transnational corporation could keep the property to expand the plant they have in the municipality of Salamanca.

The loan agreement was signed on March 20, 2024, just six months before Rodríguez Vallejo's term ended. State law stipulates that real estate can only be loaned to public agencies, autonomous bodies, educational institutions, or non-profit organizations, thus excluding private companies like Mazda.

A couple of weeks ago, Governor Libia García Muñoz Ledo formally requested the Congress to release and sell the property, valued at up to 40 million pesos, located in Rancho Crucitas Espuelas, municipality of Salamanca.

According to the file that accompanied the request for the donation, the loan agreement was signed by José Luis Cuéllar Franco, director of Material Resources, General Services and Cadastre of the Ministry of Finance —who continues in the position—, and Juan José López Aboytes, then director of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Sustainable Economic Development, now an official of the Ministry of Economy.

A municipal appraisal in Salamanca estimated the cadastral value of the land at 2.5 million pesos; however, the Morena party deputy Hades Aguilar Castillo asserted that its current value exceeds 40 million pesos.

In a session of the local Congress, Aguilar Castillo announced that he will file a criminal complaint against the Government of the State of Guanajuato, considering that the PAN "committed a robbery" by handing over the land to Mazda.

“Here we are not talking about economic incentives, but about illegally transferring public wealth into private hands,” the legislator pointed out.

Hades Aguilar believes that Libia García's request to formalize the donation only seeks to "legalize the looting".

“They granted it on loan in violation of the law, and now they are seeking congressional approval. The damage to the people's assets is measurable, ongoing, and malicious,” he stated.

In response, PAN deputy Víctor Zanella Huerta defended the donation, arguing that it provides incentives to companies to promote employment, a strategy also followed by the Federal Government.

“It’s not just about generating income, but about directing resources towards strategic goals that generate long-term economic, social and labor benefits,” he said.

Zanella recalled that up to 2020, Mazda had generated more than 5,300 formal jobs and accumulated 785 million pesos in investment in the state.

For his part, Morena legislator Abraham Ramos Sotomayor stated that Morena is not opposed to economic development, but that the Rodríguez Vallejo government lacked the legal authority to grant the loan agreement.

“This scheme cannot be used for profit. Endorsing the donation would be validating an illegal act from its inception,” he warned.

In response to the criticism, Erandi Bermúdez Méndez, a member of the National Action Party (PAN), pointed out that the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador granted a 15-year concession in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, to Grupo Vidanta, owned by a businessman close to his administration.

During the discussion, no PAN legislator made any reference to Morena's accusation regarding irregularities in the granting of the loan to Mazda.

The donation of the new land for the automaker was approved with the votes of 24 legislators from the PAN, PRI, PVEM, PRD, and Movimiento Ciudadano parties. Morena and PT voted against it.

Mazda had already received 300 hectares and another 381 million pesos in incentives

To encourage Mazda to build a plant in Guanajuato, the state government allocated nearly 700 million pesos in incentives to the automotive company in 2011.

The package included a 300-hectare plot of land valued at 310 million, road works worth 294 million, and 87 million in cash for initial expenses, training, and permits.

In addition, the government pledged to obtain permits from local and federal authorities, facilitate work visas for Japanese staff, and build a Japanese school for the children of the managers.