Leftists Free 80 Prisoners in Anger at Vote Loss in Chiapas Lizbeth Diaz - Reuters
go to original October 2, 2012

Supporters of a Mexican leftist party, angry at losing a local election, went on the rampage and set 80 prisoners free from a detention center in the southern state of Chiapas.

Activists from the Party of the Democratic Revolution also set fire to the town hall in the town of Motozintla, near Mexico's border with Guatemala, in the rampage on Sunday, said Chiapas state interior minister Noe Castanon.

He said and police had arrested 31 party supporters, who had opened cell doors at the jail after Mexico's electoral tribunal ratified the victory of a Green Party mayoral candidate in Motozintla in a municipal election in July.

"They were really angry. They burned the town hall, two police cars and stole several vehicles," said an official at the detention center, who asked not to be named.

He said police rounded up 24 of the prisoners who had been freed in the rampage. The detention center houses inmates accused of crimes including rape and murder.

Editing by Christopher Wilson

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