“I scratch the ground where the government kneels to fear,” says Ceci Flores

A forceful criticism of Morena Senator Gerardo Fernández Noroña, who is reportedly protected and escorted by the National Guard, was published by Sonoran activist Cecilia Patricia Flores Armenta, founder of the Madres Buscadoras de Sonora collective. The outraged activist emphasized that the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) assigned him bodyguards after his physical confrontation with PRI leader Alejandro “Alito” Moreno in the Senate.

From her social media account, X, Flores expressed her outrage at what she considers an institutional injustice: “I scratch the ground where the government kneels to fear. I have asked for protection four times and they have denied it. And this man, whose only enemy is his mouth, now has someone to protect him.” While Fernández Noroña received bodyguards after an altercation that included shoving and verbal threats in the legislative chamber, Flores and hundreds of searching mothers face real and constant danger in areas dominated by organized crime. Armed with shovels, rods, and hope, they travel through rugged terrain in search of clandestine graves, often without institutional support and under death threats.

The activist has denounced that her requests for protection have been ignored by authorities, despite the fact that her work involves entering areas controlled by cartels, receiving intimidating calls, and facing institutional neglect. “Senators receive justice at home, while mothers have to scratch the ground to search for it,” she wrote in another post.

Controversy is nothing new in the career of the Morena senator. Fernández Noroña has been involved in multiple episodes of verbal aggression against journalists, activists, and legislators. In 2019, he was sanctioned by the National Electoral Institute (INE) for engaging in political gender-based violence against Congresswoman Adriana Dávila, whom he called “more loud-mouthed than a bitch” and threatened to “give her a hard time.”