PRD Legislators Seek Audit of Bicentennial Overpass

(Acapulco, JG 6 January) Gossip has circulated for months that part of the funding of the much boasted “Bicentennial Overpass” actually found its way into the Añorve campaign for state governor. Representatives of Guerrero in the national Congress, members of the opposing PRD party, now are calling on the National Auditing Agency to look into the charges. A similar request to the State Auditors identified six financial irregularities, but nothing was done about it, presumably because those responsible are supporting Añorve in the election.

Representatives Ríos Piter and Jorrín are leading the charge. The leadership of the Convergencia party is also backing the effort. According to the critics, the first phase of the renewal project for Avenida Cuauhtémoc from the Maxi-Tunnel to downtown, was to cost $200 million pesos; however, press reports at the time of its ribbon-cutting put the cost at $140 million. The city government is now seeking to borrow funds, raising its debt to nearly $1 billion pesos. The skeptics are speculating that the moneys budgeted but not spent for the “Bicentennial Overpass” will not be found in the city’s coffers. They conclude that it found its way into the “off-book” portion of Añorve’s campaign finances, to pay for activities not intended to be seen by the election authorities.

Rep. Piter was especially emphatic in his criticism, as the money used to pay for the overpass was originally earmarked to help CAPAMA renovate its grossly inadequate infrastructure. This was Añorve’s main campaign promise in his election as mayor. The diversion of the funds to a highly visible construction project was a disappointment for the PRD opposition, and it clearly helps the PRI in the gubernatorial campaign, even though, as Rep. Piter says, “it is an overpass to nowhere.”