A candidate in a municipal election in the Mexican state of Guerrero (south) was killed by a gunman on Wednesday, the last day of campaigning, announced Evelyn Salgado Pineda, the governor of the state, which has been plagued by organized crime violence. Gangs.
Alfredo Cabrera, a candidate in the village of Cojuca de Benitez, was shot repeatedly by one of his supporters, as recorded in an amateur video published by Mexican media. In murder.
According to official figures, Sunday is the 24th candidate killed since campaigning began ahead of the June 2 presidential, parliamentary and regional elections.
The Mexican government counted the assassinations of 22 candidates earlier Wednesday in Guerrero state and Tuesday in Morelos state (south).
Cabrera is the 24th candidate to be assassinated since campaigning for the June 2 election began.
PAN-PRI-PRD candidate for mayor of Coyuca de Benitez, #GuerreroJosé Alfredo Cabrera was assassinated at the end of his campaign.
to tear #Video 🎥👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/nnp5nwz44S
— George Berrill JP/8 (@MrElDiablo8) May 30, 2024
The target of cartels
Drug dealers and other gangs are trying to “impose candidates” in the upcoming elections, Victor Cerrado, a lawyer specializing in criminal cases related to electoral processes in Michoacán state (west), told AFP recently.
The modus operandi is more or less the same: “Criminals choose a candidate” and let others know that “they have no right” to participate, threatening to execute them if they disobey their orders.
Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government has announced the deployment of a total of 27,000 soldiers and national guardsmen to guarantee the security of polling stations on Sunday.
Election campaign is in blood
Election campaigning officially ended in Mexico on Wednesday, four days ahead of Sunday’s big vote, with presidential front-runner Claudia Scheinbaum giving a speech in her hometown of the capital to her rival, José Gálvez Monterrey (northeast).
The nearly three-month official campaign, which began on March 1, has been marred by the murders of 22 candidates for local office, while also marked by sharp rebuffs by center-left government candidate Scheinbaum and right-wing rival Senator Galvez.
The day before yesterday, Tuesday, the official count was higher, with one candidate killed in the state of Morelos (south) and another wounded by bullets in the state of Jalisco (northeast).
Sunday’s election is the largest in Mexico’s history, and in addition to the presidential election, the reorganization of the House and Senate, nine governors of 32 Mexican states and countless local elected officials will be elected.
In total, 99 million voters are registered and 20,000 seats are at stake.
In Mexico, a stage collapsed during a speech by presidential candidate George Maines due to strong winds, – BBC
In this incident, 9 people died and 50 people were injured.
😳 pic.twitter.com/Q4JKVMHbUZ— Eva 🇨🇿❤🇺🇦❤ (@Eva_CZ1) May 23, 2024
27,000 soldiers took to the streets
Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government has announced the deployment of 27,000 soldiers and members of the National Guard who will guarantee the security of polling stations on Sunday.
“Candidate of drugs”, “candidate of lies”: Despite the intensity of Ms Gálvez’s verbal attacks against Ms Sheinbaum, the opposition did not close the gap much.
The former Mexico City mayor, a loyalist of outgoing President López Obrador, was said to be heading for victory with 54% of the vote on Sunday, according to opinion polls.
Civic Movement (MC) candidate Jorge Álvarez Mines, 38, increased his percentage but remains far behind (12%).
His own campaign was tarnished last Wednesday when a giant screen and stage collapsed in a gust of wind during a rally he attended in Monterey (North), killing nine people.
“We will win on June 2 and continue the change”, Ms Scheinbaum reiterated to tens of thousands of supporters in Sokolo, one of the world’s largest squares, at around 17:00 (local time; 02:00 Greek time). .
The candidate says he aims to usher in Mexico’s “fourth transition” for outgoing president Lopez Obrador, who is widely popular — he ends his term with a 66 percent approval rating.
For her part, Ms. Gálvez, the candidate of a motley three-party coalition, chose Monterrey, a hotbed of Mexican industry near the US border, to end his own campaign.
The 61-year-old candidate was expected to visit his hometown of Debatebek, 100 kilometers north of the capital, to meet citizens. He says he is “convinced” there is a large, “invisible” percentage of citizens who want to believe the right-wing senator will vote for him in Sunday’s race.
Source: RES