6.20.2012

Campaign

The following photos are from the PAN, Partido Accion Nacional, 
mayoral campaign in the county of Xilitla, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Alfredo Moran is the PAN candidate, and has had
just 2 months to visit over 280 towns.

A majority of Xilita's residents are living in poverty and lack 
many basic resources. Town visits allow Moran to discuss his platform
and review problems specific to each area.

A couple in El Reten, SLP shows Moran a section of 
their home in need of repair. Many families were promised 
assistance with basic resources, but have not seen or spoken with
anyone during the current mayor's 3-year term.


Meeting held in a classroom for the small town of Moxco, SLP.


Moran's wife Erica Piedfort-Moran visits a family in need of medical assistance.
The son, 38 years old, has never seen a specialist for his condition.
He cannot walk or speak and lives on the floor both outside and inside the family's home.
The mother cares for him alone, with occasional help from her neighbors.


The son sleeps on the mat in the corner of this room.

Moran's supporters in Ahuacatlan, SLP.


Children carry water to their homes in La Gloria, SLP.

Piedfort-Moran visits houses to check on the status of
individuals with health conditions.

A child watches a meeting with Moran in Herradura, SLP.

A group of boys chase Moran's car down a long trail to Arroyo Seco, SLP.


A crowd welcomes Moran and Piedfort-Moran to Puerto de Belem, SLP.


Moran reviews residents' requests for assistance in Puerto de Belem, SLP.

Moran delivered a wheelchair to a father who has not been able to 
leave his home in over three years. Families across the county lack sufficient resources 
and medical assistance. Equipment such as wheelchairs are difficult to find
or too expensive for families living in impoverished conditions.


Children carry propaganda for Josefina Vasquez Mota
during a meeting in Moxco, SLP. Vasquez Mota is the first 
woman in Mexico's history to run for president.


Moran visits each house in El Reten, SLP to discuss his proposals with residents.



Residents of La Gloria, SLP look at the intersection of three states along a mountain range.

Resident of El Reten discusses neglect from local government.

A mother brings her 6-year daughter old to see an eye doctor at the 
PAN campaign office in May.  The child has extremely poor vision and had
never seen an eye doctor before.

The child receives her first pair of glasses one month later.



House visits in El Reten, SLP.



First meeting in the county's capital Xilitla.

Many families welcome the candidate into their homes with a meal 
in between Moran's speeches. "Some days you have to eat five or six times,
while others you don't get to eat at all," explained Moran.

Arroyo Seco, SLP


Several trucks of volunteers arrive in each town before
the candidate to set up banners, seating and music for campaign speeches.

Supporters meet Moran toward the end of each day to start a "carabana,"
a line of cars that drive back to Moran's home in Xilitla with campaign
music, honking and cheering. The carabana after this picture was taken 
included 252 cars. Carabanas are typically between 10pm and 12am
(at the end of the candidate's day). Spectators in the candidate's hometown wait outside
each night to show support. Some cars are decorated with PAN 
propoganda, while others have installed train and commercial truck horns.



PAN supporters hide under a banner as it rains during a meeting in Xiltla, SLP.

In front of the candidate's home in Xilitla, SLP.

Moran's supporters listen as residents talk about a brighter future for Xilitla.
Despite a strong following for Moran, many fear that the opposing
party may try to buy votes from residents. The current mayor is 
allegedly using public money to buy propaganda for the PRI candidate; 
some claim he is also using "dispensas," bags of food and gifts,
to sway voters before the elections July 1st.