'Dead' man elected mayor in Mexico

Relatives forged a death certificate in order to get an arrest warrant dropped

Sophie Warnes
Friday 12 July 2013 18:07 BST
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Leninguer Carballido was certified dead by his family in 2010, but recently won an election
Leninguer Carballido was certified dead by his family in 2010, but recently won an election

Police have been left bemused after a man who was certified dead was elected as mayor of a village in Mexico.

Leninguer Carballido's relatives forged a death certificate showing that he died in 2010 to convince police to drop an arrest warrant for allegedly taking part in a gang rape some years earlier.

Carballido ran under the name 'Lenin Carballido' in a mayoral election in San Agustin Amatengo in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. As part of his campaign, he posted photos of him across the village, and the campaign included slogans like "Now is the time" and "United for development". He won, but his victory was short-lived as the death certificate surfaced.

Officials in Oaxaca state said that the certificate, which had his full name on it, had been signed by a registry official, but that the details had been faked. Even his party, the Democratic Revolution Party - known as the PRD - admitted that they had been fooled.

Rey Morales, the leader of the PRD said: "When he registered as a candidate, he presented all his paperwork, his birth certificate, a letter stating he had no criminal record. He fooled the prosecutors' office, he fooled the office of records, he fooled electoral officials.

"If all this is true, he cannot take office as mayor", he added.

According to records, Carballido was accused of raping a woman in 2004, but the arrest warrant was never served because his family showed officers a false death certificate.

Mayra Ricardez, a spokeswoman for Oaxaca state prosecutors' office, said: "The prosecutors' office is taking all the legal steps necessary to revive the case and serve the arrest warrant that is still pending." The office also said they were considering whether he might need to face charges on election-law violations.

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