Current:Home > MyViolence clouds the last day of campaigning for Mexico’s election -Quantum Capital Pro
Violence clouds the last day of campaigning for Mexico’s election
View
Date:2025-04-17 18:42:02
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico held the last day of campaigning Wednesday before Sunday’s nationwide election, but the closing rallies were darkened by attacks on candidates and the country’s persistently high homicide rate.
Opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez started her last campaign rallies early Wednesday on the outskirts of Mexico City, and she focused her ire on President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” policy of not confronting the drug cartels.
Gálvez is facing the candidate of López Obrador’s Morena party, former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum. Sheinbaum, who leads in the race, has promised to continue all of López Obrador’s policies.
“Are we going to continue with hugs, or are we going to apply the law to criminals?” Gálvez asked a cheering crowd. “Mexico wants peace, wants tranquility.”
López Obrador has withdrawn funding for police forces and directed it to the quasi-military National Guard, which critics say lacks the professional and investigative abilities needed to fight the drug gangs. Gálvez promised to return the funding to police forces and guarantee them wages of at least $1,200 per month.
Gálvez also pledged to reconcile a country that has been highly polarized by the outgoing president’s rhetoric, saying “enough division, enough hatred ... we are all Mexicans.”
Sheinbaum held her final rally later Wednesday in Mexico City’s vast, colonial-era central square. She delivered a strongly nationalistic speech to a large crowd.
“Mexico is respected in the world, it is a reference point,” Sheinbaum said, claiming that López Obrador’s government “has returned to us the pride of being Mexicans.”
“Mexico has changed, and for the better,” she said.
On the violence issue, Sheinbaum vowed to continue López Obrador’s policy of offering apprenticeships to encourage youths not to join drug cartels.
“We will deepen the strategy of peace and security, and the progress that has been made,” she said. “This is not an iron fist” policy, Sheinbaum said. “This is justice.”
While López Obrador has increased the country’s minimum wage and increased government benefit programs, he has been unable to significantly reduce the historically high homicide rate, which currently runs at more than 30,000 killings per year nationwide. That gang-fueled violence has also cast a shadow over the campaigns.
Late Wednesday, a mayoral candidate in the violent southern state of Guerrero was shot to death in the town of Coyuca de Benitez. Gov. Evelyn Salgado identified the dead candidate as Alfredo Cabrera, but gave no further details on his killing. Local media reported he was shot in the head at his closing campaign event.
A mayoral candidate in the western state of Jalisco was shot multiple times by intruders in his campaign offices late Tuesday. Two members of Gilberto Palomar’s campaign staff were also wounded, and all three were hospitalized in serious condition, according to Jalisco state security coordinator Sánchez Beruben.
Mexicans will vote Sunday in an election weighing gender, democracy and populism, as they chart the country’s path forward in voting shadowed by cartel violence. With two women leading the contest, Mexico will likely elect its first female president. More than 20,000 congressional and local positions are up for grabs, according to the National Electoral Institute.
Gunmen killed an alternate mayoral candidate in Morelos state, just south of Mexico City on Tuesday, state prosecutors said.
Local media reported attackers on a motorcycle shot Ricardo Arizmendi five times in the head in the city of Cuautla in Morelos. Alternate candidates take office if the winner of a race is incapacitated or resigns.
About 27 candidates, mostly running for mayor or town councils, have been killed so far this year. While that is not much higher than in some past elections, what is unprecedented is the mass shootings: candidates used to be killed in targeted attacks, but now criminals have taken to spraying whole campaign events with gunfire.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of global elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/
veryGood! (5)
Related
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Police recover '3D-printed gun parts,' ammo from Detroit home; 14-year-old arrested
- Nebraska ballot will include competing measures to expand or limit abortion rights, top court rules
- It took 50,000 gallons of water to put out Tesla Semi fire in California, US agency says
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Cold Play
- Why Sister Wives’ Kody Brown Believes Janelle Brown Is Doing This to Punish Him
- Loose electrical cable found on ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Three people wounded in downtown Dallas shooting; police say suspect is unknown
Ranking
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- American Airlines flight attendants ratify contract that ends their threats to go on strike
- Ewan McGregor and Wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead Hit Red Carpet With 4 Kids
- Target’s Latino Heritage Month Collection Has Juan Gabriel & Rebelde Tees for $16, Plus More Latino Faves
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- 2024 Emmy Awards predictions: Our picks for who will (and who should) win
- Explosion at an Idaho gas station leaves two critically injured and others presumed dead
- Kelly Clarkson Addresses Being Vulnerable After Heartbreak
Recommendation
Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
Police recover '3D-printed gun parts,' ammo from Detroit home; 14-year-old arrested
Arizona man copied room key, sexually assaulted woman in hotel: Prosecutors
It took 50,000 gallons of water to put out Tesla Semi fire in California, US agency says
Small twin
Border Patrol response to Uvalde school shooting marred by breakdowns and poor training, report says
Loose electrical cable found on ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse
Ex-Massachusetts lawmaker convicted of scamming pandemic unemployment funds