Man believed to be dead wins mayor election in Mexico

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Mexican man who was declared dead in 2010 has won an election for mayor in Oaxaca state, officials have said, according to BBC News.

Lenin Carballido won the election in the town of San Agustin Amatengo after posting pictures of himself alongside slogans like "United for Development".

However, police say Carballido's family produced a death certificate in his name in 2010, when he was under investigation for a gang rape.

Prosecutors are now investigating whether he faked his own death.

His party, the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), said it had been fooled by the candidate and he would not be allowed to serve as mayor.

"When he registered as a candidate, he presented all his paperwork, his birth certificate, a letter stating he had no criminal record," said the PRD's Rey Morales. "He fooled the prosecutors' office, he fooled the office of records, he fooled electoral officials."

Local media reported that the death certificate recorded his death of "natural causes" following a diabetic coma.

The certificate was signed by a doctor and issued by the local records office, which also marked his death in the official registry.

Carballido now faces allegations of voting law infringements, and the authorities say they might reopen the rape case.