In the communal elections that took place in 2005 in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, the oppositional Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD)¹ surprisingly won most of the municipalities, clearly defeating the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI),² which had formerly been regarded as the dominant state party. One focal point of this electoral swing was the Valle del Mezquital, a region that was previously considered to fully support the PRI.³ This turn of events created a great deal of surprise as much among local citizens and politicians as among external observers, as it did not fit into common perceptions of how...