Tuesday, June 30, 2009

More Mayoral Maneuvers in Michoacán

Three of the mayors arrested several weeks ago in Michoacán have been released without charges, due to a lack of evidence. (The other seven were formally charged last week.) This reflects a big problem with the arraigo, the Mexican legal procedure that allows people to be held without charges for up to 40 days as officials investigate the case. I'm not sure that these mayor's careers are finished, given the topsy-turvy relationship between Mexico's politicians and its criminals, but if there was not enough evidence to support even a formal accusation, then these guys shouldn't have suffered the indignity of being dragged from their office by federal troops. Somewhere, I imagine Raymond Donovan is feeling sympathetic.

In addition, the mayor of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán's largest port and a key Pacific entry point for South American cocaine, was arrested yesterday.

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