Two mayoral candidates in Mexico won their respective elections despite being jailed for multiple charges including organized crime, kidnapping, murder, and others.
In the border state of Tamaulipas, Francisco “Kiko” Lopez Villafranca won his bid for mayor of San Carlos, even though he has been behind bars since May 2, El Universal reported. Lopez Villafranca, a member of Mexico’s Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), remains jailed without bond on one count of murder and one count of engaging in organized criminal activity for his alleged role in the death of state social works delegate Baltazar Gonzalez Castillo. Since the candidate was not convicted at the time of the election, he was still able to continue his campaign with the help of relatives on the outside.
In a similar case in the state of Morelos, Alfonso Miranda Gallegos won his race for mayor of Amacuzac, even though he has also been behind bars since May. Miranda Gallegos had been mayor of the same town once before; he won the election from ex-mayor Jorge Miranda Abarca who was arrested in May on federal organized crime charges and was later convicted, El Sol de Cuernavaca reported.
Miranda Gallegos is facing federal kidnapping and organized crime charges after being formally accused of being a close collaborator of the regional head of an organized crime group, the Mexican government revealed during a news conference following his arrest in May.
Following his win, Miranda Gallegos issued a statement claiming that he would soon be released and asked Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) who is from the same party not to forget him, El Sol de Cuernavaca reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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