Elections in Puebla turn violent: four bodies found, armed groups steal boxes and beat an official

Translated by El Profe for Borderland Beat from Periodico Central

                      

Seven voting areas were vandalized in the capital in San Aparicio, Loma Bella, Bosques de San Sebastián, Barranca Honda, San Francisco Totimehuacán, Aquiles Serdán and Rancho Colorado.

By Magarely Hernández / Karen Meza

As of 2:30 p.m., the elections in Puebla that so far had passed calmly turned violent. Seven voting areas were vandalized in the capital by armed hooded men and the bodies of four people were found in the municipality of Cuautlancingo, near the Mexico-Puebla highway.

The first report was that of the San Aparicio auxiliary board booth, where 10 hooded men arrived and when the president of the voting area confronted them he was beaten. The vandals took a packet of ballots, so the officials decided to suspend the votes of those who had last names from A to C.

The second report was in the Barranca Honda neighborhood, in the booth area located at Technical School 98, where it was reported that five subjects entered and burst into the voting booths.

The third report was in San Francisco Totimehuacán, in the Cadete Vicente Suárez Federal Primary School voting area, where five armed individuals burst into the booths. Witnesses said they fired three shots into the air.

Also, in the colony Aquiles Serdán several subjects burst into the voting area located in the Carmen Serdán Federal Primary School and destroyed several ballot boxes.

The voting place located in 53 Norte 1402, subjects arrived and intimidated the polling officials to then break the ballot boxes and take the ballots.

The fifth incident was recorded in booth 1012 located on Ex Hacienda Rancho Colorado street when five subjects in a white Sentra without plates tried to steal the ballot boxes.

The men fired twice to intimidate the box officials. A box was destroyed and those affected reported that the subjects tried to take the local election ballots.

In a sixth incident, armed individuals stole three ballot boxes after firing several shots into the air at Loma Bella.

This took place at 43 "Fundadores" secondary school, located on the 105th floor, where box 1206 was installed. Due to this, the officials suspended the vote.

In the seventh incident, citizens reported the theft of ballot boxes and bullets in the box located on 7A Street at number 23, of the Bosque de San Sebastián colony.

While the boxes were vandalized, four bodies were found in the municipality of Cuautlancingo, near the Mexico-Puebla highway. The bodies were found inside a Chevy car, and there is still no information on how they were killed or why.

This is added to the report of the theft of more than 3 thousand ballots in the municipality of Izúcar de Matamoros, the ballots were stolen from the house of the president of the that voting area.