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| Gov. Javier Duarte of Veracruz, Photo: Yahir Ceballos |
Translated by Laura Allen
They delivered evidence, sentences from the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation, reports from the Superior Auditor of the Federation (ASF), bank statements from the Payroll Tax Trust, graphic images, newspaper articles and journalist reports, the National Human Rights Commission's recommendation on cases of forced disappearances, the Attorney General's statements recognizing the cases of forced disappearances, and….nothing happened.
“What other evidence do the Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) congressional deputies want?” protested the National Action Party (PAN) member, Carlos Urrutia, while facing the political bulldozer that is the PRI in the Veracruz Congress, which called the petition against Governor Javier Duarte's immunity from prosecution an election ploy.
For a long time, Veracruz has had “bad guys” as governors, with some having even been accused of being involved with drug trafficking, or making deals with millionaires, using the state's wealth. But there has never been anyone like Javier Duarte.
Recently, the ASF announced that Javier Duarte's Government had failed to substantiate what 35 billion pesos [US$1.9 billion] had been spent on.
From 2011 until the present day, 14 journalists have been killed, all of whom were critical of his government.
So far, during his term in office, the percentage of poor people in the population has risen from 52.6% to 58%, above the national average.
At least 29 current or former officials of Veracruz are being investigated by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) for various offenses, such as the diversion of resources, unfinished work, and theft of funds from the budget meant for public works.
According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), between December 2010 and August of last year, there were 3,136 murders in Veracruz. The Proceso correspondent in Veracruz, Noé Zavaleta, has recorded 13 hidden cemeteries, while out of the 950 disappearances reported to the Attorney General, it considers 155 of them to have been forced [i.e., at the hands of government agents]. From 2012 until 2015, 186 local and state police officers were investigated by the Deputy Prosecutor for Organized Crime Investigation (SEIDO) for alleged links to organized crime.
Under Javier Duarte’s government reports of women who have been disappeared have increased by 5000%. According to figures provided by the Attorney General, between 2006 and 2010 there were 32 registered cases, between 2011 and 2015 this increased to 1,647 allegations. The worst year recorded was 2014, in which 597 women were reported as missing.
In spite of this whole list of irregularities, disputes, murders, examples of corruption, deaths, disappearances and acts of violence, Javier Duarte has not been impeached the way people from Veracruz have asked him to be.
The Party of the Institutional Revolution decided to keep him in his place where, it seems, he will be more useful to them. Then, the same party that brought him to power will use him as a target for criticism, as a political example of what should not be done and to promise that the next governor will not cause the same terror, violence and bloodshed. Spanish original
José Gil Olmos is a reporter for Proceso and author of 'Battles of Michoacan', 'Mexican Reporters in the Zapatista War', 'Sorcerers of Power' and 'La Santa Muerte [Saint Death]'. Twitter: @GilOlmos
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