Despite having made a campaign commitment to respect the rights of animals, Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa has announced the construction of a new bullfighting arena and cockfighting ring in the capital city.

“In a few weeks the secretary of tourism is going to present the plan for the Puebla State Fair, with the lineup for the bullfights, the lineup for the cockfights, a community theater [and] folk art,” he said.

He emphasized that the fair will be “grand, not the dinky thing it has become.”

And part of that return to greatness will be the construction of new facilities for events Barbosa had previously pledged would not occur during his administration.

“Immediately afterwards we’re going to begin construction on the foundations for the Plaza de Toros [bullfighting arena] and a palenque [cockfighting ring],” adding that it wouldn’t be like “the jury-rigged version it is today. Puebla deserves better than a bullfighting arena made of boards and sticks.”

During his 2018 campaign for governor, Barbosa, of the Morena party, signed a document promising to honor seven proposals by animal rights activists including one to “restrict violent events involving animals.”

He lost that bid to National Action Party (PAN) candidate Marta Erika Alonso in a highly contested election for which suspected irregularities had triggered a recount.

However, Barbosa ended up winning a special election held after Alonso and her husband were killed in a helicopter crash two weeks after she took office.

In response to his announcement, animal rights activists created a petition campaign on Change.org to put a stop to the construction of the bullfighting arena.

The petition had 2,336 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

Source: Reforma (sp)