Noroña lashes out at Alessandra Rojo de la Vega for removing statues of Che and Fidel

Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña has strongly criticized the decision by Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, mayor of Cuauhtémoc, to remove the statues of Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara from the district.

Noroña, who also represents Mexico City, was unstinting in her criticism, accusing Rojo de la Vega of acting with arrogance and ignorance . The controversy arose after the removal of the sculptures, which has generated a heated debate about cultural heritage and administrative decisions in the mayor's office.

In his statements, Fernández Noroña expressed his astonishment at what he considered a "reckless act of ignorance" on the part of the mayor.

He directly questioned Rojo de la Vega's intention to sell the statues, challenging her to present the purchase receipts for the pieces. For Noroña, the mayor's attitude denotes a misappropriation of public property. "The mayor is selling, auctioning, or giving them away.

"The lady believes she owns the territory," he stated, underscoring the seriousness of what he perceives as an arbitrary disposition of property belonging to the people of the municipality.

Noroña's criticism escalated when he compared Alessandra Rojo de la Vega's actions with those of her predecessor, Sandra Cuevas, who also governed the Cuauhtémoc mayor's office under the PAN, PRI, and PRD alliance. The senator was blunt in stating that the current mayor is "worse than Sandra Cuevas," emphasizing that her behavior is even more problematic. He described Rojo de la Vega as "equally fatuous, arrogant, seemingly gentle, and profoundly ignorant."

Noroña insisted that no one has the authority to auction off the mayor's property without proper authorization. "You shouldn't auction off the property that belongs to the people of the Cuauhtémoc mayor's office. Who authorized you to remove the statues? Who authorized you to auction them off? What audacity, the audacity of ignorance," she vehemently stated, questioning the legality and legitimacy of the mayor's actions.

Criticism also extended to Rojo de la Vega's stance on her political origins, despite having come to office as a candidate for the PAN, PRI, and PRD alliance. Noroña joked about the possibility that her actions are forming an "extremely violent, tremendously ignorant, and very pedestrian party."

For her part, Alessandra Rojo de la Vega justified the removal of the sculptures by arguing that no documentary record was found in the district's archives to support their placement in a park in the Tabacalera neighborhood. In the face of criticism, the mayor proposed auctioning the pieces so that, in her words, "closet communists" in the mayor's office could acquire them, which has added another layer of controversy to the situation. The confrontation between the two politicians highlights the ideological tensions and differing views on public administration and cultural heritage.