FAKE PROPAGANDA ARM OF GUERRA CAMPAIGN SKATING ON THIN ICE

Special to El RrunRrun

Dear Editor:

Judging by the social media posts by the scurrilous online publication Brownsville & Valley News – an ill-disguised "bad cop" arm of the Steve Guerra for County Judge campaign – there are no adults in the room controlling the content spewed by this anonymous bunch of his supporters.

If there were, they would have readily recognized that the photo and caption below right are on very thin libel ice.

Among some of the problems with the post are these:

1. They are claiming – without citing source or any evidence – that there is "a corruption alert" and that a federal investigation "may" force incumbent Eddie Treviño out of his re-election campaign. More like wishful thinking, it would appear.

2. That a company in which one of his law firm partners (Conrad Bodden)  is listed as a manager by the Texas Secretary of State – and which has been in the construction business since 2019 – was awarded "millions of dollars" in contracts and is actually owned by the county judge despite Treviño's name not appearing in any official or non-official document. 

In contrast, Guerra's name is listed as  the manager of  Warrior Fuel Traders LLC, which sold fuel to Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV, named by Mexico's Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico as a principal in the smuggling of (huachicol) fuel, and which was sued for welshing on its debt to a fuel supplier for more than $300,000.  https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2026/02/guerras-ties-to-huachicolembarassing.html

3. That a "shady" local bondsman, Juan "Jr." Andrade is a "front man" in the company for Treviño.

4. That the company and its managers are involved in the "corruption-money laundering scheme."

5. That the SpaceX contract will be a "kickback to the county judge for his "suspicious" support to "all SpaceX operations on Boca Chica Beach."

These are serious allegations and boil down to this: 

1. That SpaceX – that is, Elon Musk – awarded Core Construction contracts as a bribe to Treviño in return for his "suspicious" support all SpaceX operations at Boca Chica.

These are very dangerous grounds to tread. 

These allegations are made without any documentation that there is any federal "corruption investigation" ties to Treviño, Bodden, or Andrade. And if there was, federal authorities would neither confirm nor deny its existence. It ends up being a convenient "rumor" that can safely be exploited for Guerra's political ends, personal and professional reputations that can be destroyed be damned.

The post implies that Andrade – a local bail bondsman, grocer, and politically engaged Cameron County resident whose family started with a small mom-and-pop grocery store in poverty-stricken Cameron Park and built it up into a successful business through honest work – is nothing but a "front man" for the concocted bogus bribery and kickback scheme. 

If no one knew it, they would be surprised that Cameron County Sheriff  Manuel "Manny" Treviño after a bidding process, let out the jails commissary service to Andrade, and sheriff Treviño – as straight as they come – would never allow himself or his department to be involved with anyone in such a scheme. In fact, the sheriff has expressed his disgust with this kind of baseless anonymous accusations and endorsed the incumbent for re-election over Guerra and former sheriff Eric Garza. 

In fact, all the county commissioners have condemned Guerra's proxies' libelous characterizations and attacks and have endorsed incumbent Trevino in the upcoming Democratic Party primary March 3. Early voting starts February 17.

The flaw in these allegations against the incumbent county judge is that they assume that Treviño single-handedly has the power to pass any issue through the commissioners court. As Dolph Thomae – the late commissioner for Pct. 3 – used to say, "we country boys know we have to count to three" to pass anything on the county agenda. Treviño, like all the other commissioners, control only their one vote. Is the entire commissioners court suspect of "corruption," too, then? Careful.

Perhaps they forget that Musk – if he wanted to find the people behind the Brownsville & Valley News front used by the Guerra campaign – has the technological know how to rip the cover behind which they hide. SpaceX is a private company that is free to shop around for its vendors. A cursory glance at suppliers for a myriad of services to SpaceX and now Starbase, shows thousands of vendors, local and from throughout the United States and abroad, supply it with the goods they need to keep their operations working. Core Construction was but a tiny supplier on that list. 

There is enough potential exposure to defamation and libel in the posts of  the Brownsville & Valley News to keep a libel attorney busy for months. In this day and age, no one can hide. And if Musk, Bodden, Andrade, and Treviño decide to defend themselves from these scurrilous allegations that they engaged in bribery for paying "kickbacks" to the county judge through a vendor contract to a business not associated with himself, but with a side private business outside their law firm run by his law partner, no se la acaban.

Thank you for the opportunity to address your seven readers.