HomeNewsBriefMexican Politicians Swap Accusations of Zetas Funding
BRIEF

Mexican Politicians Swap Accusations of Zetas Funding

MEXICO / 25 APR 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

Two of Mexico’s biggest political parties have been trading allegations of ties to drug cartels, hinting at the murky connections between organized crime and politics in Mexico.

In an April 24 press conference, Miguel Yunes, who unsuccessfully stood as the National Action Party (PAN)'s candidate in the 2010 Veracruz gubernatorial elections, accused current Governor Javier Duarte, and Duarte’s predecessor, Fidel Herrera, of working with a Zetas money launderer.

Yunes said that the current and previous governors, both members of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), maintained a business relationship with Francisco Colorado, who is currently on trial in the United States for allegedly laundering Zetas drug profits through a horse breeding business, reported Proceso. Yunes also accused Herrera of accepting money from Colorado, and protecting his operations while governor.

Shortly after, an anonymous email sent to journalists and political leaders appeared on a pro-government website, accusing Yunes of receiving funding from Colorado. The email included photographs of the pair together.

The week before, a Gulf Cartel accountant testified that the organization had contributed $12 million to Herrera’s 2004 campaign.

Insight Crime Analysis

During the 71 years of unbroken PRI rule, which ended in 2000, the relationship between organized crime and politics was relatively straightforward -- any criminal group looking to buy political influence knew exactly who to turn to.

However, in the current era of increased political plurality, drug cartels frequently have to hedge their bets by supporting more than one side in an electoral contest in order to guarantee a sympathetic winner.

While none of the allegations against either the PAN or the PRI politicians in Veracruz have been proven, and it is difficult to separate truth from mudslinging, it is quite possible that one or both sides have been corrupted by the influence of Colorado, his associates or his rivals.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

HUMAN RIGHTS / 30 AUG 2023

Human trafficking is one of the most complex and misunderstood criminal economies in the world. This is especially true along…

GULF CARTEL / 28 JUN 2023

US policy has exposed migrants to a greater risk of being killed, disappeared, and kidnapped in isolated stretches of the…

ARGENTINA / 8 FEB 2023

InSight Crime's 2022 Homicide Round-Up covers more countries than ever before, with a major expansion into nations of the Caribbean.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…