May 31, 2009: Visitors to San Miguel over the next five weeks will witness a lot of colorful campaign activity. Mexican elections take place on Sunday, July 5, and the campaign season is in full swing with many rallies, parades and banners visible throughout the town. In San Miguel, locals will be electing a new mayor for a three-year term.
The four candidates for mayor are:
-Cristóbal Franyuti, who is a lawyer with degrees from universities in both Mexico and Spain, is member of the PAN party. He held key tourism, economic development and city secretary positions in the two most recent city administrations, which were also led by PAN.
He says that his administration would be “a government of continuity, not of ‘continuismo’ ” (the practice of keeping the same political party in power during long periods of time, leading to decline). “Continuity will come from the vision of the [PAN] team formed several years ago,” he says.
-Lucy Núñez was born in Mexico City and earned a degree in television production in California. She previously worked on two Mexican TV stations, and in San Miguel, she has worked for Radio San Miguel and local Channel 4. She is married to Javier Zavala, owner of Radio San Miguel.
Núñez has said that she does not belong to any political party. “I am a citizen candidate,” she says. “The opposition parties [PRI, PRD and Verde] are supporting me, but I do not belong to any of them. She said her cabinet would be made up of citizens, not members of particular political parties.
-Miguel de Jesús Rangel was born in San Miguel de Allende. He is 24 years old and has studied music. He has been a member of PT for five years and he, like his party, has a leftist ideology.
Rangel proposes establishing a local government that serves the people, rather than using people to serve the government. He hopes to unite all segments of society, including the expat community, for the benefit of San Miguel.
– Dr. Mendoza was born in Guadalajara and studied medicine in León. In 1969, he came to work as a substitute doctor at the IMSS [Social Security] hospital in San Miguel de Allende for one month, and he then decided to make his home here.
After 16 years at IMSS including a stint as director for one year, Dr. Mendoza then left IMSS and went into private practice. He was invited by the Nueva Alianza party to run for mayor and accepted because he does not agree with the other candidates’ positions. He says he would focus his government on improving education.