El Candigato Morris: Fed up with "rat" politicians, Mexican town proposes cat for mayor

Image: juancarlosvazquez.com

A wonderful meme is spreading throughout the Spanish-speaking internets: El Candigato Morris, a cat politician who originated in the Mexican city of Xalapa. His campaign slogan translates to “For a Xalapa Without Rats,” referring to the notoriously corrupt politicians and police in the region.

Here’s his Facebook page.

El Universal covers it here and here in Spanish, and a CNN blog contributor explains here en Inglés:

The state of Veracruz is preparing for the upcoming local elections, to be held on July 7th, and in a show of tiredness and lack of belief in the official candidates, two young men have proposed a cat named Morris as the citizen’s candidate. Morris says he promises to do what other politicians do, which is sleep and do nothing. He has also stated that while he also messes up, he at least has the decency to cover up his mess and not leave it laying around where people can step on it. Curiously enough, Morris now has more likes on his Facebook page than three of the four main candidates in the running, and is expected to overcome the candidate for PRI in a short time. This internet sensation is being covered by state, local, and national media, and is a way for the population to express their frustration at their elected officials.

The designer of the Shepard Fairey-esque Morris posters above and below, Juan Carlos Vazquez, explains his design process here:

“Frustration with do-nothing politicians has sparked a surreal situation in the eastern Mexican city of Xalapa, where two students have nominated a cat for that town’s upcoming mayoral election.

Morris is the feline candidate’s name. He has a Facebook page and Twitter account where he promises to “rid the city of rats,” a local euphemism for corrupt politicians.

Besides going after rats, Morris only says that he will eat, sleep, yawn and conduct other cat-like activities. His campaign managers say that this is exactly why you should vote for him.” Is what says ABCNews in the article about this social movement in Xalapa, Mexico.

I redesigned 3 posters, using satire and humour and inspired by Shepard Fairey posters and Alberto Korda photography with the only goal to give support to this social/political movement that is led by Daniel Cruz And Sergio Chamorro.

I never imagined that this movement would be so powerful…

(Thanks, Renata Avila)