In regards to Castro Trenti, what interests me is his atypical leadership style and intricate psychology. I've never had any interviews with him as deep as the interviews I had with Jorge Hank or know much about his family history. I know it comes from a household with an authoritarian and violent father. His mother is an example of a culture of great effort and he is very ambitious to the extreme. Recently, in an interview with my colleague Laura Sanchez of "El Informador", his wife Isis Peralta said that when they met, both came to pass by some "hiccups" with family problems that they were able to overcome after their paths coincided.

I cannot imagine two more contrasting personalities than Jorge Hank Rhon and Fernando Castro Trenti. The Devil is a real mystery. He is not charismatic, not liked at first, not physically graceful to look at and yet exerts an undeniable leadership, able to seduce and make even his detractors and those who hate him end up eating out of his hand. There are too many examples of historical detractors of Castro Trenti that end up on his side. There's Carlos Bustamante or the other candidate, Felipe Ruanova. Well, even some governors of Baja California have had to make agreements with him at a given moment in the past like, Eugenio Elorduy and Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan, both whom have been driven to smoke the peace pipe with the Devil or at least to sign non-aggression pacts. In fact, although it has never reached the level of a honeymoon with Osuna Millan, we have had an ambivalent relationship throughout the six years that at times has come closer to collaboration, or at least has never resulted in an open fire or ruthless.

Nobody reads political opportunity and timing like Castro Trenti does. Nobody analyzes rivals like he does. Castro Trenti seems to always know the weaknesses of his opponents. He can identify who feels underpaid or unloved by his or her own party, and those who have concerns or ambitions. The Art of the Devil is on knowing how to get the ego or vanity of people. He has always liked to seduce more than to confront and impose only until he has the upper hand. Castro Trenti is a politician in every sense of the word, able to negotiate with his worst enemy if it suits his interests. I should mention his brother Francisco, who I have a very good impression of. He is an educated man, good reader, professor, has the ability to know how to communicate his ideas with a pen and translate the criminal procedure language.

With just a few days before the election, I still believe that Fernando Castro Trenti is better at being a political operator than a candidate. Neither his personal style nor his speech I liked, it looks and sounds fake. His face in the campaign ads reminded me of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, when Aschenbach, a mature man, has makeup put on by a stylist until he looks extremely grotesque. For Castro Trenti, a more natural and less prefabricated speech will go better.

His performance in the debates leaves me with a "however". The line between a good speech and a rant is usually thin, and with bad speakers, this is often impossible to perceive. The PRI party candidate crossed that line and in his desire to seduce with words, he ended up looking like an evangelical preacher. Rather than with convincing arguments, his niche is in trying to spread a good mood. The recommendation of his advisers to bet on the speech in the second person without leaving that line seems adequate. He talks to you and looks into your eyes. A compulsive jump from you to a self-illuminated me, a providential and messianic "I come to save you". A rant peppered with a barrage of numbers and grand promises that with a little tone of voice, ended up being a shipwreck that lost its emotion as his hands, inevitably, trembled. It's obvious that Fernando Castro Trenti has a clear line of arguments, which is followed by the Decalogue of his advisers and (thinks to have) the image he wants to sell. He spoke with a tone of voice of superiority, disqualifying the PAN party by frequently saying, "that is precisely what we should stop doing." What he is looking to do, above all, is to create an effect.

If I had to rush a forecast with now just days before the election, it would be that Fernando Castro Trenti is going to be the next governor of Baja California, but the coin is still in the air and his opponent Kiko Vega cannot be ruled out and might surprise everyone, as he has been able to concentrate on winning the streets, while the Devil is more focused on winning the public's opinion. Castro Trenti has the table set for him to win. But, I think that the fact that the election is not yet been decided, this is most unfavorable to him. It could easily ride away from him on a horse. The era that is being lived in, the environment of Enrique Peña Nieto, the native PAN party wearing out after 24 years, and the fact that he has worked on his candidacy every day for the last seven years, these are all elements operating in his favor. As a politician Castro Trenti looks more prepared than his opponent, which is not a great merit (I would like to see him against someone like Hector Osuna Jaime or Gaston Luken to measure a true balance of forces). Currently, what is working against him is that his rival is simpler and is liked more by the people.

I'm intrigued by the kind of government that Castro Trenti will lead. Will it be a replica of the infamous and obscure presidency of Manlio Fabio in Sonora? Will the media continue to act in such an abject and subservient manner? Hopefully this will not be the case and that he will surround himself with the best people, and leave out those sinister characters that surround him.

Castro Trenti still generates more questions than answers to me. I have always wondered if he really has friends or are they just allies. Does he care for anyone who is not one of his family members? Are there people who are willing to sacrifice themself for him as a person, in good times and in bad, or if it is just something that simply comes down to convenience and temporary pacts. Does the Devil have real friends? Is he able to love someone beyond his boundless ambition and to be loved as a human being? Does he have feelings or just interest? Like I said before, this character generates more questions than answers for me. DSB

NOTE-

What I have written, is a testimonial of the path and personality profile of the two candidates who are contending for the governorship of Baja California, and is solely based on my experience and my stories as a reporter. I do not like neither of the two as a candidate. And to be honest, I think that there are better BajaCalifornians with better skills that could govern the state. All I've done for now, is to yield to my desire to tell stories and try to portray characters and "human size" them into their contrasts and contextualize them in an environment often chaotic and full of whims.

-DSB

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