A mayor ready for his closeup

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More than 700 people are believed to have been killed so far this year in the battle between Mexico’s east and west coast drug gangs and their affiliates.

Police and politicians are said to be coerced into cooperating through this menacing offer: Lead or gold? Everyone understands the choice is between a bullet or a bribe.

So the 50,000 constituents of Jesus Velazquez, the mayor of Guadalupe y Calvo, probably have mixed feelings about hizzoner taking a movie role as a farmer-turned drug mafioso, even if it is in a straight-to-DVD film. (movie still above)

Authorities said 61 people were killed this year in Velazquez’s state of Chihuahua, which includes the notorious smugglers’ city of Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

“In the beginning, I didn’t want to do it,” he told the Excelsior newspaper. “I didn’t like the movie’s theme. I thought, ‘How can I appear in such a movie while being mayor?’ But in the end I thought, a movie’s just a movie. I don’t think anyone is going to think what I’m acting is real.”

Posted by Carlos Martinez in Mexico City