Mexico experienced the “most violent election” in its history

A total of 37 candidates were murdered since the campaign began until the general elections on Sunday, June 2 in Mexico, making it the most violent election in its democratic history, according to the civil organization Causa en Común.

The electoral process that began in June 2023 and ended on Sunday with the possible victory of the ruling party, Claudia Sheinbaum, will go down in history as the most violent recorded in Mexico with 63 political actors dead, 37 of them aspiring to office. , according to the report.

Assassinations of politicians

Of the country’s 32 states, 17 suffered at least one politician’s murder, and the violence was mainly concentrated in Guerrero (south), with 12 deaths; Chiapas (southeast), with 11, and Michoacán (west), with 7 murdered.

The majority of reported murders, 92%, were at the municipal level and affected all political parties.

43% of the homicides affected the ruling coalition Let’s Keep Making History, 42% belonged to the opposition bloc Fuerza y ​​Corazón por México, while the rest is divided between the Citizen Movement and local formations.

These figures exceed the 30 candidate deaths recorded in the 2021 election and the 24 in 2018.

Voting day did not escape violence

The violence was present even on the same election day, when hours before the opening of the voting centers, the candidate for trustee for Cuitzeo, Michoacán, Israel Delgado, of the ruling Labor Party (PT), was killed.

In addition, also on Sunday, the headquarters of the National Electoral Institute (INE) in Acámbaro, Guanajuato (center), suffered an attack with explosives and, in Coyomeapan, Puebla (center), voting was suspended due to the emergence of an armed group.

“Criminality overflowing”

“Mexico faces excessive crime that must be recognized and confronted with political decision and all the instruments of the State,” Causa en Común denounced.

The elections held on Sunday were the largest in the history of Mexico because more than 98 million people were called to the polls to renew more than 20,000 positions, including the presidency, the 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the 128 in the Senate. .

Keep reading:

• Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum and the long shadow of López Obrador
• Elections in Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum becomes the country’s first female president, according to INE
• Elections in Mexico: What are the similarities and differences between Claudia Sheinbaum and AMLO