General News

Candidate rages as drone interrupts family weekend 

Enrique Alfaro, the Citizens Movement (MC) candidate for Guadalajara mayor, was surprised last weekend by a drone hovering above his home, and has accused his main rival, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), of spying and political subterfuge.

MC Jalisco President Hugo Luna said two members of the PRI admitted that the drone was sent by their party to gather information about Alfaro’s personal assets. The police were contacted in response to the incident but Attorney General Luis Najera said there is little evidence to support an investigation. 

“The drone was hovering for about 30 minutes,” Luna said. “It’s the house where he lives with his wife and daughters. This is a flagrant and violent invasion of privacy and represents a looming security threat, especially during an election.”

Dad’s improprieties put governor on the spot

Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sanodval found himself in an embarrassing situation when his father, magistrate Leonel Sandoval, was taped encouraging Supreme Court staffers to secure votes for the  Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), even at the cost of breaking the law by influencing voters on election day. 

The PRI governor reportedly had private words with his father, who subsequently took a leave of absence from his post for 50 days – the period corresponding to the election run-up. While several political parties called for his resignation as a magistrate and filed criminal  complaints, Sandoval Sr. will not face charges. Jalisco Supreme Court President Luis Carlos Vega Pamanes defended Sandoval, arguing that talking about a crime was different from committing it. 

Tortilla wrapping paper to promote elections?

The Jalisco Electoral Institute has been toying with the idea of promoting the upcoming June elections on paper used to wrap tortillas. The campaign would reach about 4,600 shops and restaurants and have an estimated cost of 400,000 pesos. The initiative is part of a wider program to encourage high voter turnout.   Ironically, the idea originally came from the Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), which was fined this month for illegally printing campaign propaganda on tortilla wrappings.

Dog returns to election spotlight

A pitbull named Fidel is set to feature in the Jalisco elections in June, as disenchanted citizens are encouraged to null their votes by writing his name on the ballots.  The Twitter account, @SeBuscaFidel (looking for Fidel), features tweets criticizing politicians and outlining the dog’s campaign promises. On April 8, Fidel even promised to make a public declaration of assets. 

The dog appeared in the 2009 election, when his owner Carlos Delgado used him as a symbol  of weariness “towards the political class, the atmosphere of mistrust and the poor representation of citizens.”

Fidel was proposed as an alternative candidate  for District 12, where Delgado claims he secured 3,500 votes.      

The University of Guadalajara is providing training to municipal authorities to enter into the national Mexico Conectado initiative, whose aim is to offer universal free internet access within the next three years.

Jalisco currently has 125 public spaces with free internet access but the state government wants to increase this to 12,000 points.

Administration, Planning and Finance Secretary Hector Perez Partida called the initiative “very important for the state,” in terms of economic development. 

The University of Guadalajara has opened four new training centers. Municipal officials will be able to register suggested sites for the new program, which will include hospitals, schools, government buildings and other public spaces. 

In 2014, 65,000 public sites were connected throughout the country. An additional 100,000 are planned this year.

A leading Jalisco government official has criticized an updated U.S. Department of State travel advisory for Mexico released this week, even though its wording regarding this state has not changed since the previous one was issued in December of last year.

A heavily armed commando under the orders of a drug cartel ambushed a convoy of state police pick-ups Monday afternoon near the village of Soyatan on the Mascota-Puerto Vallarta highway, causing the deaths of 15 officers – 14 men and one woman.

An unusual exhibit is touring Jalisco schools in a bid to teach children about Guachimontones, the pre-Hispanic archaeological site consisting of curious “round pyramids” located about an hour west of Guadalajara in Teuchitlan. 

Complex legal battles stemming from a land dispute between the Indigenous Community of Mezcala de la Asuncion on the shores of Lake Chapala and a Guadalajara businessman are heating up again after years of foundering in the Mexican court system. 

A heavily armed commando under the orders of a drug cartel ambushed a convoy of state police pick-ups Monday afternoon near the village of Soyatan on the Mascota-Puerto Vallarta highway, causing the deaths of 15 officers – 14 men and one woman.

According to State Public Security Commissioner Alejandro Solorio, “a significant number of assailants” blocked the path of the convoy before surrounding the police officers and firing on them with high-calibre weapons. 

Five police officers who were killed in a confrontation with heavily armed gunmen in Ocotlan on Thursday, March 19  were members of the Gendarmería convoy platoon that has been assigned to carry out routine patrols in the Chapala area since early February.