Baltazar Gaona García, president of the Michoacán Congress and a representative of the Labor Party (PT), offered a public apology this Sunday for allowing the band Carnavalito to perform the narcocorrido “Se les peló Baltazar” (Baltazar Got Away) inside the legislative building on June 10.
“Believe me, it was never my intention to cause offense,” the legislator said in a video posted on social media.
Gaona García assumed direct responsibility for what happened: “As president of the Congress, I am solely responsible for what happened that day.” The song is dedicated to Baltazar Díaz Vega, alias “El Balta,” identified as one of the first associates of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, who was captured in 2014 in El Paso, Texas.
The incident occurred during a Father’s Day celebration held at the Congress. As Gaona himself explained, the band Carnavalito asked to have their picture taken in the session hall and, as a sign of gratitude towards him, decided to perform the song spontaneously, without the deputy having planned or requested it.
