Semester of horror and blood in Mexico

Dozens of politicians have been assassinated in the last six months in Mexico ahead of the June parliamentary and state elections.

The latest assassination took place yesterday afternoon, just hours after the government itself presented a plan to tackle the phenomenon.

The victim, a former mayor who was running for office, was killed in the State of Veracruz, according to the authorities.

José Melkiantes Vazquez, the mayoral candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for the municipality of La Perla, was killed by gunmen while driving his vehicle, with his wife as a passenger.

The head of the PRI office in Veracruz, Marlon Ramirez, condemned the crime: “We are concerned that women and men who claim to represent (the party) cannot participate openly,” he told reporters.

Election violence in Mexico, especially at the local level, is usually perpetrated by cartels involved in the illicit drug trade and are active in the area.

“Organized crime is trying to influence the course of this election,” Security Minister Rosa Rodrγκguez said yesterday.

It reported 73 incidents of political violence, including 64 homicides, mainly in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca (south), Veracruz (east), Baja California (north), Jalisco (west), Guanajuato and Morelos (center).

Rodrεςguez did not specify how many of the victims had run in the June 6 election.

In the midst of this situation the government presented a plan to strengthen the protection of candidates which is becoming a target of threats.

“We are working to stop these crimes by criminal organizations seeking (…) to strengthen their political influence,” she told a news conference this morning.

Violence against politicians usually takes the form of murders, kidnappings, threats against family members, arson and extortion.

Some 94 million Mexicans are expected to elect 500 members of the federal parliament, 15 of 32 governors, 30 members of the state legislature and thousands of mayors and other local officials.

According to consulting firm Etellekt, 153 politicians were assassinated during the 2018 election campaign, of whom 48 were candidates for elected office.

The company emphasizes that 90% of these crimes go unpunished.

Since December 2006, when the government launched an offensive against drug cartels, Mexico has recorded more than 300,000 violent deaths, according to official figures.

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