Gerardo Fernández Noroña

José Gerardo Rodolfo Fernández Noroña (born 19 March 1960) is a Mexican politician and sociologist from the Labor Party (formerly from the Party of the Democratic Revolution). 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 PT to run as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic within the "Together We Make History" coalition for the 2024 federal elections.

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 in 1988 and joined the National Democratic Front (DFN), before it became the Party of the Democratic Revolution (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 in front of President Ernesto Zedillo, 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, 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 and Felipe Calderón were.

From 2009 to 2012 Fernández Noroña served as deputy in the 61st Congress, representing the Federal District'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'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 - 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 Enrique Peña Nieto. 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 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, 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 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 coalition in the 2024 general elections.

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. He had been criticized for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, 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.
 * In 2022 PAN senator Lilly Téllez referred to Noroña as "Changoleón", a homeless person who became a TV personality in Mexico. Téllez said: "Pay attention to me, Changoleón, because you are the political arm of organized crime", referring to Noroña's political party, in alliance with the government party, Morena.
 * On 15 April 2024, in response to the raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, Noroña lodged a formal complaint against President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador with the Attorney General of Mexico, seeking his extradition for the violation of diplomatic premises. The Attorney General's office received the complaint but did not comment.