José Gerardo Rodolfo Fernández Noroña (born 19 March 1960) is a Mexican politician and sociologist from the Morena party, formerly from the Labor Party and the

Party of the Democratic Revolution The Party of the Democratic Revolution (, , PRD) is a state-level social democracy, social democratic political party in Mexico (previously national, until 2024). The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 198 ...

. He is known for his protest acts, especially starting with the 2006 presidential election. He was a federal deputy on two occasions (2009–2012 and 2018–2023) and in 2018 he was nominated by the Labor Party to run as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic within the " Together We Make History" coalition for the 2024 federal elections.

Biography

Political career

In 1983, he earned a degree in Sociology at the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM). He was an external candidate for federal deputy for the

Mexican Socialist Party The Mexican Socialist Party (, PMS) was a left-wing Mexican political party, and one of the immediate antecedents of the present Party of the Democratic Revolution. It was the last effort to unify the different Mexican left-wing parties, as well a ...

in 1988 and joined the National Democratic Front (DFN), before it became the

(PRD). In 1995 he led the creation of the Citizen Assembly in Defense of Bank Debtors, an organization that defended those who, due to the economic crisis suffered that year in Mexico, had seen their debts multiply by their bank loans. He led the protests, including one in 1996 in

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

in front of President

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was the 61st president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Re ...

, for which he was imprisoned for a few days, but he was released shortly after because the then national president of the PRD,

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

, intervened. He continued in the grassroots organization for the party until 2004, the year in which he was named communications secretary of the national executive committee of the PRD headed by Leonel Cota Montaño and therefore became spokesperson for the party. During the 2006 presidential campaigns, during the post-electoral conflict that followed, he held protests against the electoral fraud denounced by his party and its candidate López Obrador, as well as in places where outgoing and incoming presidents

Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the Nat ...

and

Felipe Calderón Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (; born 18 August 1962) is a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 63rd president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012 and Secretary of Energy during the presidency of Vicente Fox between 2003 and 2004. ...

were. From 2009 to 2012 Fernández Noroña served as deputy in the 61st Congress, representing the

Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

's 19th district. His conflicts with members of the Presidential General Staff during the Calderón administration stemmed from his numerous demonstrations at official functions that he attended. In 2009, he was already a deputy when he was denied access to the third state of the nation report. He accused the Calderón government of causing these incidents and alleged death threats. As a deputy once more, he was barred from viewing one of

Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican former politician and lawyer who was the 64th president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), he p ...

's state of the nation reports, which was produced at the National Palace, and he also encountered federal police personnel as a result of his protests.

2012 to present

In August 2012, Fernández Noroña began a tour to promote a movement against the triumph of the candidate for the Presidency of the Republic

. He also proposed the creation of a new left-wing political party, the ''Movimiento de Izquierda Libertaria''. On 15 September 2012, an assembly was held in the Mexico City's

Zócalo Zócalo () is the common name of the town square, main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztecs, Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza us ...

at which Balfre Vargas Cortez, Rosendo Marín Díaz and Gerardo Fernández Noroña announced what they called an "Appeal to the people of Mexico", a document in which drafted the action plan against an alleged imposition by Peña Nieto through peaceful civil disobedience. On 1 April 2015, Gerardo Fernández Noroña, leader of the National Assembly for the Independence of Mexico (ÁNIMO), was an (external) candidate for multi-member federal deputy for the Labor Party (PT). Fernández Noroña carried out a national campaign, calling to vote and supporting the PT candidates. He concentrated his campaign on visiting with particular emphasis the fourth electoral region, for which he was a candidate, and which includes the Federal District, Puebla, Guerrero, Morelos and Tlaxcala. In reference to the alliance that the Labor Party made in some entities with the PRI and the PAN, Fernández Noroña stressed that these alliances are local, he does not agree with them, and that he would only run as a PT candidate. He also expressed that despite strong pressure, the PT has remained firm by not agreeing to sign the Pact for Mexico and by voting against all structural reforms. In 2016, he denounced the aggression and theft of cell phones by the undersecretary of government of Puebla, Luis Arturo Cornejo, in the administration of

Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas (30 June 1968 – 24 December 2018) was a Mexican politician affiliated at different times with both the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN). He was the governor of Puebla from F ...

, when he was trying to mediate to free political prisoners. He was elected again to the Chamber of Deputies in in 2018, representing Mexico City's 4th district for the Labor Party, and he was re-elected to the same seat in 2021. In September 2023, Noroña was appointed by

Claudia Sheinbaum Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (born 24 June 1962) is a Mexican politician, energy and climate change scientist, and academic who has served as the 66th president of Mexico since 2024. She is the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and ...

to be in charge of coordination tasks and strengthening the link with social organizations and civilians and a key spokesperson for the

Juntos Hacemos Historia Juntos Hacemos Historia () was a Mexican electoral alliance formed by the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), the Labor Party (Mexico), Labor Party (PT), and the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) to compete in the 2021 Mexican legislativ ...

coalition in the 2024 general elections. He was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

as a Morena national-list senator in the 2024 election. At the start of the

legislative session A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two electi ...

in August 2024, he was elected

president of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

Controversies

* On 21 May 2021 Noroña went to the office of Twitter Mexico to protest about the blocking of his account, due to violations. He was widely criticized after video surfaced of the incident, where he was shown to abuse the Twitter member of staff who received him. Noroña said in a belligerent tone: "I come to protest, if you don't like it because you think it's going to be docked from your wages then do not pose as if you were the owner." * In July 2021, he tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He had been criticized for spreading

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagi ...

, such as stating that face masks are not helpful in avoiding the spread of the virus. In January 2022, he tested positive for the second time. *On 15 April 2024, in response to the raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, Noroña lodged a formal complaint against President

Daniel Noboa Daniel Roy Gilchrist Noboa Azín ( ; ; born30 November 1987) is an Ecuadorian politician and businessman serving as the 48th and current president of Ecuador since 2023. Having first taken office at the age of 35, he is the second-youngest pr ...

of Ecuador with the

Attorney General of Mexico The attorney general of the Republic is the head of the Attorney General's Office (; prior to 2019, ) and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office of the United Mexican States, an institution belonging to the Federal Government's constitutional ...

, seeking his extradition for the violation of diplomatic premises. The Attorney General's office received the complaint but did not comment. * In June 2025, in response to the Los Angeles protests, Noroña suggested that the whole

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

should be returned to Mexico, saying "names don't lie. The most spoken language in Los Angeles is Spanish. You don't need to speak English to be in Los Angeles." He went on to denounce the existence of the United States, and claimed that Mexicans had settled in the region long before the U.S. had achieved its independence. He ignored the fact that not much settlement occured beyond the

Spanish missions in California The Spanish missions in California () formed a List of Spanish missions in California, series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. The missions were established by ...

prior to the end of Spanish rule in 1821. He also claimed that Mexico was "stripped of these territories," ignoring the payment of $15 million for the land under the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Norona, Gerardo 1960 births Living people Mexican Marxists Mexican communists Mexican sociologists Left-wing populists Anti-American sentiment in North America Deputies of the LXIV Legislature of Mexico COVID-19 misinformation Party of the Democratic Revolution politicians Labor Party (Mexico) politicians Presidents of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana alumni Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) for Mexico City Deputies of the LXI Legislature of Mexico Morena (political party) politicians