TAKING A PAGE FROM TRUMP'S PLAYBOOK, GUERRA TAKES CREDIT FOR $300 BILLION PORT REFINERY HE OPPOSED

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Is Steve Guerra – the chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District and a candidate for Cameron County Judge against incumbent Eddie Treviño in the Democratic Party runoff – a closet MAGA Republican?

Just one day after his hero Donald Trump took credit for the construction on his Truth Social of a $300 billion America First Refining power plant and oil refinery, Guerra posted on his social media page that its construction was a result of  his leadership at the port.

Trump, the port, and public relations publications, claimed he was responsible for its construction last week, even though the company announced it had completed its site preparation and permitting during the Biden administration in June 2024, some six months before Trump was inaugurated in January 2025.

At the time of the announcement in 2024, it published in industry periodicals that the plant would be the first refinery built in the United States in 47 years. It was made possible funded by investments from Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. Three years later, Trump said the America First Refining, would be the first refinery built in the United States, but now it was the first one in 50 years, when he posted his announcement last Friday.  

Despite being false, but true to form, he framed it as part of his "America First" energy policy, calling it a "historic milestone" in energy infrastructure and as a response to heightened energy concerns tied to rising tensions as a result of the conflict with Iran. 

Element Fuels announced back then – before they even knew Trump would be president – that the groundbreaking was scheduled to be held this April, 2026 and operational in 2027 and "will be the first of its kind refinery combining advanced, commercially proven technologies, provided by best-in-class partners."

Like Trump, Guerra insinuated the plant came about as a result of his "leadership," even while admitting that the idea of a refinery at the port had been in the works for more than 12 years.  

"Real leadership delivering real results at the Port of Brownsville!," Guerra gushed. "Like I have said before, many talk about economic development, others may try to take credit for it, but the team I have led at the port has delivered it."

This came as a surprise to some former and current port commissioners and administrators, who distinctly remember that when the company – now known as Houston-based Elements Fuel Holdings LLC – came to renew the lease of 240 acres of port properties adjacent to the ship channel, Guerra was one of the most vociferous opponents against renewing it even though the company, under a different name, had paid some $7 million in rent to the port for at least eight years while they laid out the final plans for the plant.

"Steve wanted to lease the land to someone else," one said, preferring to remain anonymous. "Without disclosing the arguments he made, there were some discussions in executive session where he was against renewing the lease to Elements Fuel Holdings and to lease it to another company he favored."  

"This announcement is a defining moment for our region," posted Guerra. “America First Refining chose us because we have the land, the infrastructure, the workforce and the commitment to get it done. This is exactly the kind of transformative investment that strengthens our economy and creates real opportunity for South Texas families."

And then the port repeated the lie that Trump was the one responsible for bringing the refinery even though it was completed during the Biden administration 

The port posted a fawning item on their website stating that: "We are pleased to see this long-planned investment moving toward fruition and thank President Donald J. Trump and his administration for their support in advancing opportunities that strengthen America’s energy infrastructure."

Every other media organ in the United States perpetrated the hoax, to use one of Trump's favorite terms. Deceit, it would appear, link Trump and Guerra.

Guerra, a self-styled "entrepreneur," has formed and registered numerous LLCs with the Texas Secretary of State, many of which are now defunct and were forfeited. 

The majority of the LLCs didn't have a physical office in Cameron County and many of them listed their street address at Guerra's mother's home in Brownsville.

Guerra's "entrepreneurship" didn't come to light until  his Warrior Fuel Traders LLC was sued by a Navasota, Texas fuel supplier for nonpayment.

In that lawsuit, Key Performance president Mark Jackson filed an affidavit October 26, 2022 in support of his company's lawsuit demanding payment of an outstanding balance of $333,484.47 and attached copies of 24 invoices shipments of diesel and other petroleum products they had shipped at Warrior Fuel Traders' request over a two-month period in 2020 that had not been paid. The shipments were delivered to the cartel-linked distributor.

In Cause No: 2022-DCL-5154-I plaintiff Key Performance lists a systematic record of transactions that make up the outstanding balance of Warrior Fuel Traders, LLC.

Government investigations revealed that Warrior Fuel Traders/Steve Guerra was in direct business with Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV. Pyrodiesel has been named as a principal in fuel smuggling activities (huachicol) of petroleum by the Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico. https://es-us.noticias.yahoo.com/huachicoleros-controlaban-puertos-pa%C3%ADs-060000638.html

Invoices to Warrior Fuel Traders from Key Performance indicate the diesel and petroleum products were shipped through Eagle Pass, Texas and delivered to Pyrodiesel. The Warrior Fuel Traders LLC was registered with the Texas Secretary Of State April 13, 2020 and its certification was forfeited June 24, 2022.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), identified Pyrodiesel as one of the hundreds of Mexican companies engaged in huachicol. 

The modern usage primarily describes the criminal activity of stealing and selling stolen fuel, sometimes through sophisticated tax evasion schemes known as "huachicol fiscal." 

A U.S. advisory in May called huachicol schemes “the most significant non-drug illicit revenue source” for Mexico's cartels, which have become a prominent Trump administration target. But the cartels often rely on affiliated individuals and firms—including along the Texas border—to pull them off.