Gubernatorial elections were held on Sunday, January 30, 2011 in the state of Guerrero. The candidate of the coalition “Join us Guerrero” (PRD, PT and Convergencia), Ángel Aguirre Rivero, won with a 13.18-point advantage over his rival and ex-mayor of Acapulco, Manuel Añorve Baños, of the alliance “Better Times for Guerrero” (PRI, PVEM, PANAL). These elections are the first of six that will take place this year in lead up to the presidential elections of 2012.
On August 26, 2010, Aguirre, ex-interim governor of Guerrero (1993-1996), officially resigned from his membership with the PRI and three days later, the PRD, together with the PT and Convergencia, formally presented him as a candidate for governor, thus forming the coalition Join us Guerrero. Additionally, just five days before the gubernatorial election, the candidate of PAN, Marcos Efrén Parra Gómez, withdrew from the race in support of Aguirre Rivero, which was done as part of a de-facto alliance with the PRD. Even before his withdrawal, the contest was centered on the candidates of the PRI and PRD as surveys indicated that the PAN candidate would receive only 5% of the votes. Faced with this decision, Aguirre Rivero invited Parra Gómez to join the coalition of the PRD, PT and Convergencia with an offer to include the proposals of the PAN in his policies as governor of Guerrero. He assumed that because of the relationship between Parra Gómez and president Felipe Calderón, the coalition would benefit from the management of federal resources to end the misery and underdevelopment that is prevalent in Guerrero.
Furthermore, the pre-election environment in Guerrero was riddled with attacks, disappearances, telephone leaks and tensions. Even when the legal deadline for campaigning had concluded low blows and mud slinging continued. At first, there were attempts to link Ángel Aguirre Rivero with the Michoacan Family and Áñorve Baños with Edgar Valdez Villareal, La Barbie. Both candidates complained about the proliferation of messages through electronic and print media, as well as street graffiti, intended to discredit the opponent. In a report published before the election, the Human Rights Center of the Mountain Tlachinollan denounced that the electoral process would occur in a “rarefied atmosphere” marked by the violence of organized crime and that the latest actions of the parties were intended to create a “climate of fear and social instability”. In the climate of insecurity, 7,500 police officers were deployed during the elections and nothing more than minor incidents were reported on the day of the elections. However, the abstention rate was roughly 50% of the electoral roll.
After being declared the winner, Aguirre Rivero was accompanied by the leader of the Convergencia, Luis Walton, and from the PRD, Jesús Ortega, as well as the coordinator of the Reconstruction of Mexico (Dia), Manuel Camacho Solís. For his part, Añorve confirmed that he would contest the results for a process that he called unfair and blamed the electoral bodies, the federal government and Mexico City, the parties and candidates and some of the media.
For more information:
– Insiste Añorve en impugnar las elecciones en Guerrero (La Jornada, 1ero de febrero de 2011)
– Gana Aguirre a Añorve por casi 14 puntos: PREP (El Universal, 31 de enero de 2011)
– Aventaja Aguirre en Guerrero; el PRI impugnaría la elección (La Jornada, 31 de enero de 2011)
– Aguirre y Añorve condenan guerra sucia; hoy, elecciones en Guerrero (La Jornada, 30 de enero de 2011)
– Pobreza y violencia ponen en riesgo la elección en Guerrero: informe de Tlachinollan (CNN México, 29 de enero de 2011)
– Zonas rurales de Guerrero, focos rojos en los comicios del domingo (28 de enero de 2011)
– Guerrero: el primer pacto PAN-PRD en 2011 (CNN México, 28 de enero de 2011)
– Ángel Aguirre, Gobernador 2011-2015 (ejes de campaña)
For more information from SIPAZ (in Spanish):
– Guerrero: “Indigenous peoples are subject to rights and are not electoral merchandise” (February 4, 2011)
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