Javier Duarte de Ochoa

Javier Duarte de Ochoa
Governor of Veracruz
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 December 2010
Preceded by	Fidel Herrera Beltrán
Personal details
Born	19 September 1973 Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico
Political party	PRI
Spouse(s)	Karime Macías
Profession	Economist

Javier Duarte de Ochoa (born 19 September 1973) is a Mexican affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who currently serves as Governor of Veracruz. He also served as congressman during the LXI Legislature of the Mexican Congress representing Veracruz,^[1] leaving his seat on 16 February 2010.^[2] On July 4, 2010 Duarte de Ochoa won the election for governor, becoming the candidate to receive the most votes in the state's history with 1 million 392.386 votes^[3] according to the final electoral tally.^[4]

Election as Governor

Shortly after beginning his term as a congressman in 2009, Duarte de Ochoa began to be mentioned as one of the major PRI candidates for Governor of Veracruz in the 2010 elections. His candidacy received support from the Confederación Nacional Campesina and the Confederación de Trabajadores de México,^[5][6] and he was designated PRI candidate for the governorship on March 27, 2010.^[7]

The governor's race for the 2010 State Elections of Veracruz was between Javier Duarte de Ochoa of PRI, Miguel Angel Yunes Linares of the PAN and the incumbent Dante Delgado Rannauro, who had been elected as part of a coalition between PRD, PT and Convergence. When voting closed on July 2, 2010 Duarte de Ochoa was originally declared winner with 50% of the votes, with only 36% for the closest contender Dante Delgado Rannauro.^[8] However, accusations of suspicious votes and rampant fraud led the opposition parties to file a formal request for an investigation and vote-by-vote recount, which was accepted by the PRI on July 8, 2010.^[9] Duarte de Ochoa had received a record number of votes, with over 79 thousand more than the incumbent Dante Delgado Rannauro had received in the previous election, and telephone recordings were revealed in which former PRI governor and Duarte de Ochoa supporter Fidel Herrera Beltrán was heard pledging to use state resources to support the Duarte de Ochoa campaign.^[10] However, although the Election Tribunal annulled 260 voting boxes, bringing the margin of the win to just 2%, they claimed that the opposition had not presented sufficient proof to annul the election, and Duarte de Ochoa was declared the victor on July 26, 2010.^[11][12]

Controversies

Bodies found in Boca del Rio

In September 2011, 35 bodies were found tortured and murdered in two abandoned trucks in the town of Boca del Rio, Veracruz, outside a building where governor Duarte de Ochoa was conducting a meeting.^[13] As evidence emerged that the killings had been made possible through police collusion, the governor took the unprecedented step of disbanding the entire Boca del Rio police force in an attempt to root out corruption.^[14]

25 million pesos in state money transported in suitcases for unknown purposes

On Friday January 28, 2012 members of the Federal Police arrested Said Zepeda and Miguel Morales, who were carrying a briefcase and a backpack with cash totalling 25 million pesos (nearly $2 million) on an official Velacruz state government plane with unverified origin or destination, and which was suspected of being sent for unlawful purposes by the Duarte de Ochoa government.^[15] The cash was seized and a federal investigation was launched to determine whether the source of the money was legitimate, and if it indeed belonged to the state government of Veracruz. Finance Secretary Tomas Ruiz Gonzalez claimed that in spite of the odd mode of transportation, the money was legal and intended to pay for the advertisement of local festivals.^[16] Soon after, the Duarte de Ochoa administration's state treasurer Benitez Vicente González resigned without explanation.^[17] The federal investigation eventually found no evidence for illegal activity, and the cash was returned to the Veracruz government on 5 June 2015 with interest.^[18]

Journalist killings

Since Duarte de Ochoa took office in December 2010, his tenure has seen a number of cases of local journalists under threat.^[19]

Duarte has issued numerous threats to journalists in several interviews.^[20] As of 1 August 2015, twelve journalists and crime reporters have been killed during the tenure of Duarte de Ochoa, and three more have gone missing^[21] Most of the cases have gone unsolved.^[22] The most notorious case was that of journalist Regina Martínez Pérez, widely known for her reporting on Veracruz state corruption and its links to drug cartels, who was found strangled to death in her apartment on 28 April 2012.^[23] State officials claimed her murder was unrelated to the regular threats of violence she was receiving for her reporting, but was rather a crime of passion following a robbery, and on 9 April they sentenced Jorge Antonio Hernández Silva to 38 years in prison for the murder.^[24][25]

Due to the unprecedented number of journalist killings during Duarte de Ochoa's term as governor, the international association Reporters Without Borders named the state of Veracruz one of the ten most dangerous places in the world in which to practice journalism.^[26]

References

1. "Perfil del legislador". Legislative Information System. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
2. "Javier Duarte va por candidatura en Veracruz". 21 February 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
3. Édgar Ávila (July 9, 2010). "IEV da triunfo a Duarte en Veracruz". El Universal. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
4. Lilia Saúl Rodríguez (October 26, 2010). "El Tribunal Electoral confirma el triunfo de Javier Duarte en Veracruz". CNN México. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
5. "Cañeros CNC apoyan a Javier Duarte de Ochoa para Gobernador de Veracrúz". Enlace Córdoba. November 13, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
6. Rodrigo Barranco (November 29, 2009). "Al más puro estilo priista CTM destapa a Duarte como su candidato a gobernador". E-Consulta. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
7. Edgar Ávila Pérez (March 28, 2010). "Duarte candidato del PRI por Veracruz". El Universal. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
8. "Encuestas de salida revelan tendencias en los estados". CNN Mexico. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
9. "El PRI veracruzano acepta que se cuenten actas una por una". Informador. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
10. "Recibe Duarte constancia como gobernador electo de Veracruz". La Jornada. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
11. "Recibe Duarte constancia como gobernador electo de Veracruz". La Jornada. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
12. "Javier Duarte es declarado ganador por el Tribunal electoral en Veracruz". CNN Mexico. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
13. "JMexico gunmen abandon two trucks with 35 bodies inside, including 23 men and 12 women". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
14. "Mexico disbands Veracruz-Boca del Rio police force". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
15. "Mexican Governor Implicated in Cash-Stuffed Suitcase Incident". Latino Daily News. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
16. "Mexican official flies 1.7 million dollar cash briefcase and backpack". NBC News. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
17. "Nearly 2 Million dollars in Cash Seized on Mexican State Government Plane". NBC News. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
18. "PGR devuelve a Veracruz 25 mdp con intereses". El Economista. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
19. "Murders, threats and duopoly: the state of press freedom in Mexico". The Guardian. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
20. "Issuing threats". El Informador. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
21. "For reporters in Mexico, journalist's death underscores job's growing danger". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
22. "Mexico crime reporter found killed in Veracruz state". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
23. "Yet another journalist murdered in Veracruz". ifex. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
24. "Journalist threatened after reporting on Veracruz murder". WebCite. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
25. "Journalist threatened after reporting on Veracruz murder". WebCite. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
26. "Noted Crime Reporter Victor Baez Kidnapped and Murdered in Veracruz State". Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 3 August 2015.