Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Guns drawn, beating of reporters in Guerrero covering PRI event

A bad omen for the PRI's gubernatorial campaign in Guerrero: A part of the stage set up for the "Better times for Guerrero" candidate Manuel Añorve Baños collapsed, ruining the day as well for prominent guests such as the new leader of the PRI, Humberto Moreira, as well as Governor Enrique Peña Nieto. 


Yet what happened after speaks volumes of the face of the new PRI: The campaign event was in the hands of security personnel from Peña Nieto's Mexico State, including literally hundreds of agents dressed in white guayaberas. Yet when a sound tower collapsed over the audience, which hurt and blooded at least 20 people, Peña Nieto's security force were more busy pushing and beating up reporters trying to take pictures of the accident. One bodyguard pulled a gun on local photographer, while another tore a camera way from the La Jornada correspondent covering the event. 


The personnel then quickly washed away the blood from the pavement, with water and brooms. 


Former PRI governor of the state Rubén Figueroa Alcocer, who was forced out of office after mass public outcry following the infamous Aguas Blancas massacre in 1995, was also in the audience, though pointedly was not mentioned in Añorve's speech.   

A request for assistance from readers of this blog: Oportunidades data

Estimados lectores:
I am currently working on a paper on social spending and crime rates, and am looking for municipal-level quantitative data on federal Oportunidades spending. Would anyone have a clue where these can be found?

Many thanks for any assistance!

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