Mayor of Acapulco

In October of 2008, Manuel Añorve Baños (last name is "Añorve") was elected mayor of Acapulco in a closely-disputed election, which saw his party, the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) sweep out the more liberal PRD (Partido de la Revolución Democrática) from many of the counties of the State of Guerrero.

Foreigners should understand that the PRI was the inheritor of the political tradition of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The PRI completed its political consolidation of power only many years later, in the 1930's, and then dominated Mexico in a conservative tradition for sixty years. Towards the end of the 20th century, the PRI encountered much popular opposition, such that rival politicians from competing parties began to win several local elections, and eventually took over the presidency of the nation. The governor of Guerrero and the mayor of Acapulco were both from the PRD, the main opposition party to the PRI. The election of Añorve in 2008 was considered a popular repudiation of the PRD - the governor of the state and the incumbent mayor of Acapulco, José Felix Salgado Macedonio. Technically, the mayor's title is that of "President" of the constitutional council that governs the city.

Even his political adversaries concede that Añorve has experience in government and politics, so that Acapulco can expect an administration less inclined to improvisation and more focused on building consensus. These were two principal criticisms leveled against his predecessor, whose governing style was targeted by the major candidates in the mayoral election for its political drama and tricks at the expense of the public welfare.

Born in the State of Guerrero on May 15, 1957, Manuel Añorve graduated in 1979 with a law degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM). He went to work in the Department of Agrarian Reform in the federal government, and then moved to the Guerrero State Government, working in the areas of finance and employment. In 1993 he became the City Attorney of Acapulco [Sindico Procurador]. In 1997, he served as interim mayor of Acapulco at the direction of the state legislature, during which time he supervised the reconstruction of Acapulco after the devastation of Hurricane Paulina. The next year Añorve acquired his doctorate in law from UNAM. Shortly thereafter he was elected a local representative of Acapulco in the state legislature, and then a federal representative, where by was vice-chairman of the PRI caucus [vice-coordenador del grupo parlamentario del PRI].

In 2007, Manuel Añorve became the support coordinator for the party's Leadership Committee in the Mexican Senate and founded a movement for the improvement of Acapulco, organizing methods for dealing with the inability of the municipal government to provide potable water to its citizens. This work led directly to his campaign to be the chief executive of Acapulco, with a motto of "Better Times for Acapulco." In the campaign the PRI allied itself with the Green Party, and defeated the PRD and the PAN convincingly. The PRI also won out over the Convergencia Party by a narrower margin.

Miguel Añorve is married to Julieta, and has five children: Jorge, Manuel, Ana Paola, Marijose, and Sebastian.
His father was a professor in the social sciences department of the Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero. He is affectionately referred to (or perhaps not) as "Chucky" due to his resemblance to the possessed doll from the horror series films of the same name.