FILE PHOTO: Former governor of Mexico’s Quintana Roo state Roberto Borge (C) is escorted by policemen while leaving a court of appeals in Panama City, Panama, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Lemos
December 29, 2017
By Elida Moreno
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama said on Friday that it will hand over a former state governor for Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to Mexican authorities next week for extradition to face corruption charges.
Roberto Borge, who was governor of the state of Quintana Roo from 2010 to 2016, was arrested in Panama City in June as he was preparing to board a flight to Paris.
A spokeswoman for Panama’s Foreign Ministry told reporters that on Thursday morning Mexican authorities will take Borge to Mexico, where prosecutors accuse him of using funds obtained illegally, embezzlement and abuse of public office.
Corruption will be one of the major issues in Mexico’s presidential election next July, with public discontent widespread over a spate of conflict-of-interest rows that have dogged the Cabinet and President Enrique Pena Nieto himself.
Borge has long been accused of corruption by opposition parties. He has denied the allegations.
(Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Leslie Adler)
