¿An omen for 2012?

The spectacle of Michoacán’s local election campaign, in which violence and threats from drug traffickers (and possibly political threats) motivated dozens of candidates to resign and involved a murdered mayor, can only be surpassed by the post-election show. The candidates for governor declared themselves winners before votes were counted and numerous voting irregularities were reported, including computer system interruptions caused by Anonymous Hispano hackers.

In the end, the apparent success of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the way the election was conducted have horrific implications for the 2012 presidential election. Michoacán is President Felipe Calderón’s native state and his sister is the National Action Party’s (PAN) defeated candidate. Also, the war on drugs, whose results are still being debated, started in Michoacán. The only consolation is that on election day, Juan Gabriel Orozco Favela, an alleged close associate of the founder of the Knights Templar drug cartel, was arrested in this state.

Drug trafficking violence was not the only shadow over this symbolic election, the last one before 2012 There were also reports the PAN was buying votes, the PRI’s candidates received threats and voters in general were threatened to stop them from voting. Drug traffickers were not the only ones involved. There were also the usual old political tricks of a partisan system in which everyone is more worried about winning no matter what, than about the Mexican people’s destiny.

No doubt, this is a sad omen. Adding political violence to a country that has already been shaken by criminal violence is truly irresponsible.