City Borrows More Money: Opponents Cry Foul

(Acapulco, JG 5 January) In their first meeting of the year, Acapulco’s City Council approved an additional indebtedness of $360 million pesos, bring the total debt to over a billion pesos. Luis Walton, Senator and head of “Convergencia,” one of the political parties aligned against former mayor Añorve Baños, told the press that the city obviously used its resources to help Añorve’s campaign, and that is the real reason it needs to borrow more.

Walton also said that the upcoming election needs to be “transparent,” and not like the previous election for mayor, in which he was defeated by Añorve. Walton said that he had the most votes from the real electorate, but that the PRI stole the election through vote-buying and ballot-box stuffing.

Walton’s reasoning is that during the 19 months when Añorve occupied the mayor’s office, the city incurred 789 million pesos in debts; before that, the city had no long term debt. Walton then asserts that the billion pesos of borrowed money is nowhere visible in Acapulco, but it is very evident in the squandering of funds by Añorve’s electoral campaign. He cited the renting of helicopters and the purchasing of full page newspaper ads as examples. Walton then accused Añorve of deceiving voters, making promises that he cannot possibly keep (such as ending the direct tax on vehicles, giving free fertilizer to farmers and providing uniforms and school supplies in all the schools).

Campaign representatives for Añorve answer that (1) all city expenditures and all campaign expenditures are strictly accounted for and audited; and (2) quite obviously, legislative changes are necessary to implement programs and keep campaign promises, and the governor can do nothing more than promise effective leadership. Añorve was in no way presuming to speak on behalf of the State Legislature.