It is 8:30 p.m. on a Wednesday in the final stretch of the campaign in San Pedro Garza García, on the outskirts of Monterrey (Nuevo León). On the stage that Movimiento Ciudadano has installed on the Obispo baseball field is the party’s presidential candidate, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, in the center; To the left of him, the candidate for mayor of San Pedro, Lorenia Canavati, and to the right, the candidate for senator, Martha Herrera. It is the latter who has the microphone. She tries to cheer up the audience that has endured the musical performances on this windy afternoon and attends the rally before the last main course: a concert by the group Bronco. “Let’s see, you can’t hear them, Máynez doesn’t hear them, how is San Pedro?” asks Herrera, who after the long “good” from the public, continues: “Welcome our next president of the Mexican Republic: Máynez!” . The last three cheers are heard, “Máynez, Máynez, Máynez”, and then, a few seconds of silence. The candidates have remained silent and turned their backs on the attendees. The next thing that floods everything is the wind and, finally, the screams. The stage has collapsed in a brutal accident that has already left nine dead and 121 injured.
The appointment is at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22. The candidate for mayor of San Pedro, one of the richest municipalities in Mexico, Lorenia Canavati, is already celebrating her final campaign event. The party has announced it with great fanfare on all its social networks. Among the recommendations: water and sunscreen for the heat, comfortable clothing and “phospho”, if possible. Citizen Movement has governed Nuevo León since 2021, when Governor Samuel García was elected. The orange party has one of its strongholds of votes in the industrial state of Mexico. For the June 2 elections, he seeks to endorse it.
On Wednesday morning, from the Mexico City airport, Máynez uploads a video about to board the plane: “Greetings to the people of San Pedro Garza García. We are going to my friend Lorenia’s closing with Bronco. Who didn’t listen to Bronco? In my case, I was a child,” says goodbye to the presidential candidate who has been on the campaign tour for weeks. To warm things up, Bronco, a legendary regional Mexican music group from Apodaca, also on the outskirts of Monterrey, uploads a video to its Instagram account: “See you at 6, see you there, get ready! ”.
![Citizen Movement in San Pedro Garza](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/N6NJAE2I7RCQXKFLHO2BML3IDY.jpeg?auth=80bdc9378f1006e2eb79b0f55de673968ebcd8ac3a824a3ce39b0af64fc3da5c&width=414)
Lorenia Canavati also has a hectic schedule, first on the radio, then at an event with Martha Herrera. At 5:23 p.m. she uploads an image of the prepared stage to her X account. And shortly before six, already from the Bronco truck, she sends one last message: “Come to the baseball field now!” The group The Wercos Band begins playing on stage. The sky looks clear, in the background, the sunset. It’s past seven in the afternoon. The National Water Commission had established its forecast for the metropolitan area of Monterrey: between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., heavy rain showers, electric shocks, and wind gusts of 50 to 70 kilometers per hour could be expected.
A few minutes before Máynez appears, the first drops of rain begin to fall, according to those in attendance. It is 8:30 p.m. when Martha Herrera is presenting it. “It was a matter of seconds,” Verónica Cupertino tells Grupo Imagen, who reports that because of the rain, people began to move. There were about 5,000 people at the rally at that time.
After presenting the presidential candidate and while all the politicians still have their fists raised, the image freezes. Álvarez Máynez realizes the strength of the wind when he sees how the musicians’ drums fly away. Lorenia Cavanati grabs her hat. As if in slow motion, the politicians turn to see how the big screen is collapsing towards them. “The instinct or logic was that the stage could be raised and what we had to do was quickly jump, I warned my colleagues, Lorena Canavati, I think she didn’t realize it at first. And when she realizes it, she also runs in another direction, some jump to the sides, I jump back. I take Laura Ballesteros [su coordinadora de campaña] and we jump together. We even hit each other in the head because we jumped off the stage at the same time,” the presidential candidate told the media.
After the screen follows the entire stage that collapses on the attendees in the first rows. The following images are panic. People flee in all directions and children cry, while the first volunteers accompany elements of the Secretariat of the Navy and Civil Protection to try to rescue those who have been trapped under the large structure.
![Alvarez Maynez](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/2C3PAWJPHNEMLPLNWYDGUR4V6U.gif?auth=d4c1573c9b90dc2921bb3005f9bfc05c3d84762eb37356dc7a8c61061ef71bf6&width=414)
Máynez, Cavanati and Herrera have suspended their campaign for the moment. “I will be in Nuevo León to monitor the situation and the victims,” said the presidential candidate. Morena’s presidential candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, has also canceled her events this Thursday. Governor Samuel García has announced that his Administration is going to cover all funeral expenses and that they are going to offer scholarships and support to minors who have lost a parent in the collapse. So far, 25 people remain hospitalized. The Nuevo León Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation file to clarify responsibilities for the collapse.
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