Rosario Robles

Who is Rosario Robles?

Rosario Robles Berlanga is a Mexican politician who serves as the Secretary of Social Development in the cabinet of Enrique Peña Nieto. She also was substitute Head of Government of the Federal District when Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas resigned from the post to run for the Mexican presidential election, in 2000. She was the first female Mayor of Mexico City.

Her term in office was highly controversial for an intensive media campaign in her government promoting her personal image, the high cost of which raised corruption concerns, and for introducing her political allies to entrepreneur Carlos Ahumada, who videotaped himself giving large cash quantities to the former politician Rene Bejarano in order to fund political campaigns for the next PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The scandals this caused created a major crisis for her party, the Partido de la Revolución Democrática. As a result, she subsequently resigned from the party. Carlos Ahumada was imprisoned, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won the elections for Mexico city, and Rene Bejarano is still free and active in politics via his wife Dolores Padierna.