The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation decided to maintain the provisional suspension of the recall driven by the Congress of the state of Guerrero and the audits of the Superior Audit of Guerrero against Abelina López Rodríguez, mayor of Acapulco. These temporary suspensions, approved by all ministers in controversies 174/2025 and 176/2025, only halt these two specific state authorities until the Court studies the case in depth. This judicial decision does not protect the mayor from investigations for the misuse of public funds, which can proceed through the Attorney General's Office of the Republic (FGR) or the Attorney General's Office of the State of Guerrero (FGE). That is, the Court imposed a temporary halt only on the Congress of Guerrero, which seeks to remove the mayor from office, and on the state Audit, which intends to review 898 million pesos in federal funds, but it does not prevent the federal Audit from reviewing those federal funds in 2026. The municipality of Acapulco complained to the state Congress and the Superior Audit because it considered that both authorities had invaded powers protected by the Mexican Constitution. The City Council argued that the state Congress was applying articles of the Organic Law of the Free Municipality of the State of Guerrero, specifically articles 94, 95, and 95 bis, which do not meet the constitutional requirements established in article 115 for regulating the recall of municipal authorities. Regarding the state Audit, the Acapulco City Council maintained that it does not have the constitutional power to review 898 million pesos in federal funds from FISMDF and FAISMUN, as this power corresponds exclusively to the Superior Audit of the Federation. The conflict originated in June 2024 when Mayor Abelina López Rodríguez assumed the municipal presidency and the management of federal funds amounting to 898 million pesos, which were given to the municipality due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Otis in October 2023. However, since April 2025, citizen complaints emerged about the lack of transparency in the management of these funds, which led the Congress of Guerrero to initiate two recall proceedings in May of that year, identified as CI/LXIV/JSRC/001/2025 and CI/LXIV/JSRC/002/2025. Simultaneously, the Superior Audit of Guerrero requested accounting information on the expenditure of the federal funds. Minister Yasmín Esquivel Mossa, in charge of the recall project, determined that the impugned state laws present deficiencies in legal precision that contravene article 115 of the Constitution, which establishes the specific requirements for the regulation of the recall of municipal authorities. In turn, Minister Giovanni Figueroa Mejía clarified that the auditing of federal funds from Ramo 33 corresponds exclusively to the Superior Audit of the Federation, not to state authorities. In June 2025, the Court granted the first provisional suspensions against both authorities, and on this January 14, 2026, all ministers unanimously rejected four claim resources, declared as 'unfounded', presented by the Congress and the Superior Audit of Guerrero to lift said suspensions. According to the Court, by declaring resources 'unfounded', it means that the state authorities failed to demonstrate before the ministers that they should continue with their processes. On this matter, Minister Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra explained that the provisional suspension protects the constitutional rights of the entire municipality as an entity. Meanwhile, Minister María Estela Ríos González specified that the state of Guerrero lacks legal competence to review federal funds transferred directly to the municipality. The suspensions against these two specific authorities will remain in effect until the Court issues a final ruling on the merits of the controversies. While these provisional suspensions remain in force—a period that could extend for several months—the Congress of Guerrero cannot execute the removal of the mayor and the state Audit cannot review the questioned federal funds. However, Abelina López Rodríguez remains subject to possible criminal investigations by the federal and state prosecutor's offices, as well as the corresponding federal audit and state reviews of non-federal funds. For the municipality of Acapulco, it means temporary stability while the jurisdictional conflict is resolved, although the mayor continues to be under scrutiny from multiple audit and investigation authorities.
