Jaime Rodriguez is a candidate at the forthcoming presidential election in Mexico. That is not why his name is known to people or the fact that he is campaigning for the office with the name El Bronco. Public support for his presidential bid stands at a meager three percent. There are reports that his name was included on the ballot by the country's election commission in a questionable manner.
So why are people speaking of Rodriguez? They are because in a recent presidential debate on television, he startled the audience by suggesting that people who steal should have their hands cut off. And he was serious, as the moderator of the program soon came to know when in response to his question as to whether he meant what he said, the candidate answered in the affirmative.
The public response to Rodriguez's remarks was at first shock and then laughter. People obviously did not take him seriously. But it was then that worries came in when a person was murdered by one of the many drug cartels in Acapulco and his body was dumped on the road accompanied by the chilling message that El Bronco's instructions were being followed. In a country already wracked by violence, the presidential candidate was only adding to the turmoil.
The conclusion we can draw is simple: when men and women with a poor or shallow understanding of politics play at being politicians, they cause grief to everyone around them. Besides, we have before us already the bad example of the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte, whose presidency continues to encourage vigilante justice against suspected drug peddlers and users in his country. The good thing about Mexicans is that they will not elect Rodriguez to the presidency. But again, who knew that Donald Trump would one day occupy the White House in Washington?
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