Former Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

On Wednesday, April 17, Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF) officially overturned former Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca’s candidacy for the Mexican Senate in a four-to-one vote in favor.

According to TEPJF High Chamber President Judge Janine Otálora, who presided over the matter, Cabeza de Vaca’s senatorial candidacy for the National Action Party (PAN) was overturned due to his possession of two outstanding arrest warrants for organized crime and money laundering.

“The registration of the candidate is revoked as he is ineligible for office due to the suspension of his political rights as provided in Article 38, fifth section of the Mexican Constitution,” read the TEPJF ruling. “The regulatory element is proven because at least two arrest warrants are outstanding against him, without the criminal actions having expired.”

The court concluded that Cabeza de Vaca had evaded justice by fleeing Mexico so he could not be served the arrest warrants, effectively rendering him ineligible for his desired candidacy due to the six months residency in Mexico required to run for Mexican senate. 

However, the TEPJF also voted to allow the PAN’s Ricardo Anaya to retain his candidacy for the federal senate despite the bribery allegations against the former presidential candidate, as Anaya notably does not have an arrest warrant issued against him.

Following the ruling, the TEPJF gave the PAN a total of 48 hours to submit a new individual to replace García Cabeza de Vaca’s now-vacant candidacy to the National Electoral Institute’s (INE) General Council.