Alleged Stolen Goods Suspected in Vote Buying Plan

(Acapulco, AN 19 January) A trailer filled with 40 tons of welfare relief supplies from the Department of Social Services of the state of Mexico City was discovered at a house in Acapulco yesterday. The welfare agency is called “DIF,” which literally means “Department of Social Integration.”

According to Alberto López Rosas, a local prosecutor and a legal advisor to the Aguirre campaign, the trailer was being “operated” by the Partido Nueva Alianza (or Panal). This small political party is a member of the coalition behind the candidacy of Manuel Añorve Baños. According to neighbors, workers had been unloading the boxes of food stuffs and staples into the house for seven hours when, around 8:00 pm last night, several party officials of the PRD and one from Panal arrived to investigate the incident.

According to López Rosas, the trailer bore license plates from the State of Mexico, and the material was identified as belonging to the DIF in the State of Mexico. No one performing the unloading was able to provide an explanation for the presence of the 40 tons of social relief supplies in Acapulco. According to the party officials who went to the site, the materials could have been stolen, but equally likely they could have been sent by the governor of the State of Mexico, Piña Nieto, an outspoken supporter of Manuel Añorve. In Guerrero elections, it is common for political parties to complain that their opposition has been giving out boxes of food stuffs and basic staples to people in exchange for their voter credentials. The purpose is either vote buying or vote suppression; either way, it is a violation of law. PRD officials are expected to file an official complaint about the incident with the Elections Institute.