A line of perfumes, clothing and a barbershop with his name are the businesses that the mayor of Mixco, Neto Bran, has undertaken so far. Without data to reveal whether his businesses have prospered in the market, the residents of that municipality assure that it is only a strategy to position himself in the media and maintain a live political propaganda on social networks, which he now uses to interview to public figures.

On July 17, a mayor's barbershop was inaugurated in the Historic Center. One enters and four barbers serve customers. One person waits his turn.

Another worker approaches and offers T-shirts, hats of different colors with the Iron Man logo at a cost of Q150 each, as well as a sweater with the same stamp at Q200. The haircut costs Q80 and includes a drink and a treatment. The salary of the barbers is Q3 thousand per month, says one of them.

The annoyance of the residents of Mixqueños was evident since the last electoral campaign in 2019 when the mayor promoted t-shirts with his name and promised to open a store to sell them.

Demands

Víctor Lemus, president of the Community Council for Urban and Rural Development (Cocode) of the Nueva Monserrat neighborhood, zone 3, says that it is an "advance campaign in disguise."

“You can go to Mixco and see that there is no one wearing those shirts, but it is used as a commercial strategy, they are a facade to hide your campaign. Much needs to be done in Mixco, the authorities need to be integrated because the needs are still there”.

Lemus assures that the main needs in neighborhoods of that municipality are the supply of piped water and the repair of asphalt.

“We see with great concern the abandonment of the needs of the communities, we have not seen any new work for six years, the works that are done are maintenance of green areas and drainage, the water is received every other day and a not day”.

In the 2019 elections, Neto Bran won the Mixco mayoralty for the second term with 50.7% of the votes, which meant 74,050 votes in his favor. In second place was the candidate of the Vamos party, René Ruano and in third place Iván Díaz of the Visión con Valores (ViVa) party, who assures that the municipal administration lacks planning.

“It may be that they don't have suitable people in the positions, both in planning and in the finance department. It is sad to see that there is no investment, we are lagging behind in development. The main lack in Mixco is water, there is no maintenance of wells and ten out of eleven areas ask for water, these are things that are known about the neighbors”.

In response to these remarks, the spokesman for the municipality of Mixco, Mynor Espinoza, stated:

“In the city of Mixco we are doing paving infrastructure, cobblestones, introduction of drinking water, drainage. We have renovated schools, reached remote places where no one could pave cobblestones or alleys; That the opponents don't want to realize it doesn't matter to us.”

Díaz does not see Bran's businesses as ventures, but as a strategy to position his name.

“If you realize, last campaign he took out some shirts with his name at the last minute and the brand of that clothing was never heard from again, nor where it was going to be sold”.

The businesses of Neto Bran are applauded by some on their social network accounts, but there are those who ask for more works and point out that it is a permanent electoral campaign.

Fines

On April 30, 2019, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal fined Neto Bran US$50,000 (about Q380,000) for early campaigning and improper offers. The Sanction against Bran was for a Facebook post in which he offered Q5,500 to the residents of Sacoj Chiquito to buy water pipes. Between June and July of that same year, he also received two other fines for early campaigning.