Guillermo "Memo" Padrés Elías has been elected the next governor of Sonora. When he claimed victory last night he proclaimed it a "historic moment" and said Sonora has chosen "a humble governor with his feet on the ground." (Let's hope those feet aren't made of clay.)Padrés, a member of PAN (aka "panista"), won 47.76% of the votes while his opponent Alfonso Elías Serrano, of PRI (or "priista"), had 43.56%. You may notice some similarity in the candidates' names; they are from the same family. Cousins, maybe.
Padrés will succeed the present governor, Eduardo Bours, the chicken magnate (his family owns Bachoco chicken processors) who was contemplating a run for president of Mexico next term. But as my blogging colleague Ale explains in her comment to this post, Bours' chances now appear to be fried (pun intended), because of his family connections to the ABC childcare center in Hermosillo which was destroyed by fire last month, killing 47 toddlers, as well as the state's negligent response to the disaster.
A panista was also elected president (mayor) of Guaymas: César Lizárraga Hernandez.
P.S. Thanks, Ale! I always learn so much from you about all things Mexican.
5 comments:
Memo certainly look popular in Guaymas area. His name was everywhere on everything. I see that someone even put his name in stone up on a hillside.
This is the first time ever a "panista" is governor of Sonora. A lot of people think that this is because PRI made a lousy job bringing justice to the families of the children in ABC Day Care. This is a major blow to priistas, especially to Bours because he may have lost his chance to run for president in 2012. After all, this is the only state where PRI didn´t win for governor in this elections and Sonora is by tradition a priista state. So I guess Peña Nieto is going to be our president in 2012, he is such a rock star, dating leading actresses and being so young and handsome.
That daycare tragedy is just breaks my heart. Hopefull the new governor will be able to give the victim's families some sort of justice!
The daycare in Hermosillo is a FEDERAL facility, not a state operation. The responsibility for this tragedy lies with the FEDERAL authorities, who are all ducking and hiding under rocks right now, while pointing their fingers at Governor Bours. So typical--when something bad happens, the responsible people run like hell and hide, and say "Don't look at me, it was not my responsibility." Yes, this happened in Bours' state, and he is investigating the tragedy, and has vowed that no one will have impunity. But the shame of this preventable tragedy, all the blood, misery and death that came out of that building that day, belongs to the federal authorities who were horribly negligent in their duties. The Social Security Administration (IMSS) is the body of the federal government that is in charge of operating these schools throughout the country. WHERE WERE THE FEDERAL INSPECTORS WHOSE JOB IS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE CHILDREN STAYING AT THESE FACILITIES? Also, did you know that Margarita Zavala, the wife of the President of Mexico, is related to the owners of the concession for the daycare facility in Hermosillo where all of those children died in the horrible fire? Did you also know that most of the people who have the concessions to run these facilities throughout Mexico are very wealthy people who are politically connected, and strong supporters of the PAN party? The concession holders receive 3,000 pesos each month for each child in the facility. The federal government does not want to provide the names of the concession holders of these facilities throughout the country. Members of the PAN political party cynically used this tragedy to their party's benefit by misleading the public into believing the responsibility lies with Governor Bours, rather than the federal authorities and the holders of the concession to run the facility. The oversight is a matter of federal responsibility. The PAN party took advantage of this tragedy to stir up hate toward Governor Bours and the PRI party, when they should have devoted their time and energy trying to help the famlilies of the victims. The great irony is that during his term, Governor Bours tried to change the jurisdiction over these daycare facilities from federal to state control, so that better service could be provided to the people who most need it. But his efforts were denied by the federal authorities. All of this information was provided by different Mexican newspapers. As Paul Harvey used to say, no you have heard the REST of the story.
C&K - I don't know if it was his popularity or just that his party, PAN, swept the election. See Bondo's take, below.
Ale - Right, that's what made it "historic." It will be interesting to see if PAN can do better for those families.
LL - The more I read about that fire, the less I was able to blog about it. The whole thing just left me speechless.
Bondo - Thanks for your viewpoint on this issue. I hope Bours is able to do an effective investigation before his term's over, that should help redeem him in Sonora.
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