Supporters of presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez shout her identify at her marketing campaign rally in Los Reyes la Paz simply outdoors of Mexico Metropolis, on Wednesday, Could 29, 2024. Mexico’s basic election is ready for June 2.
Fernando Llano/AP
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Fernando Llano/AP
MEXICO CITY — Mexico held the final day of campaigning Wednesday earlier than Sunday’s nationwide election, however the closing rallies had been darkened by assaults on candidates and the nation’s persistently excessive murder charge.
Opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez began her final marketing campaign rallies early Wednesday on the outskirts of Mexico Metropolis, and he or she targeted her ire on President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” coverage of not confronting the drug cartels.
Gálvez is dealing with the candidate of López Obrador’s Morena get together, former Mexico Metropolis Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum. Sheinbaum, who leads within the race, has promised to proceed all of López Obrador’s insurance policies.
“Are we going to proceed with hugs, or are we going to use the regulation to criminals?” Gálvez requested a cheering crowd. “Mexico needs peace, needs tranquility.”
López Obrador has withdrawn funding for police forces and directed it to the quasi-military Nationwide Guard, which critics say lacks the skilled and investigative skills wanted to combat the drug gangs. Gálvez promised to return the funding to police forces and assure them wages of not less than $1,200 monthly.
Gálvez additionally pledged to reconcile a rustic that has been extremely polarized by the outgoing president’s rhetoric, saying “sufficient division, sufficient hatred … we’re all Mexicans.”
Sheinbaum held her last rally later Wednesday in Mexico Metropolis’s huge, colonial-era central sq.. She delivered a strongly nationalistic speech to a big crowd.
“Mexico is revered on the planet, it’s a reference level,” Sheinbaum mentioned, claiming that López Obrador’s authorities “has returned to us the pleasure of being Mexicans.”
“Mexico has modified, and for the higher,” she mentioned.
On the violence situation, Sheinbaum vowed to proceed López Obrador’s coverage of providing apprenticeships to encourage youths to not be part of drug cartels.
“We’ll deepen the technique of peace and safety, and the progress that has been made,” she mentioned. “This isn’t an iron fist” coverage, Sheinbaum mentioned. “That is justice.”
Supporters of presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum attend her closing marketing campaign rally on the Zocalo in Mexico Metropolis, on Wednesday, Could 29, 2024.
Matias Delacroix/AP
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Matias Delacroix/AP
Gang violence casts shadow over campaigns
Whereas López Obrador has elevated the nation’s minimal wage and elevated authorities profit packages, he has been unable to considerably scale back the traditionally excessive murder charge, which presently runs at greater than 30,000 killings per yr nationwide. That gang-fueled violence has additionally forged a shadow over the campaigns.
Late Wednesday, a mayoral candidate within the violent southern state of Guerrero was shot to dying within the city of Coyuca de Benitez. Gov. Evelyn Salgado recognized the lifeless candidate as Alfredo Cabrera, however gave no additional particulars on his killing. Native media reported he was shot within the head at his closing marketing campaign occasion.
A mayoral candidate within the western state of Jalisco was shot a number of instances by intruders in his marketing campaign workplaces late Tuesday. Two members of Gilberto Palomar’s marketing campaign workers had been additionally wounded, and all three had been hospitalized in critical situation, in line with Jalisco state safety coordinator Sánchez Beruben.
Mexicans will vote Sunday in an election weighing gender, democracy and populism, as they chart the nation’s path ahead in voting shadowed by cartel violence. With two girls main the competition, Mexico will seemingly elect its first feminine president. Greater than 20,000 congressional and native positions are up for grabs, in line with the Nationwide Electoral Institute.
Gunmen killed an alternate mayoral candidate in Morelos state, simply south of Mexico Metropolis on Tuesday, state prosecutors mentioned.
Native media reported attackers on a motorbike shot Ricardo Arizmendi 5 instances within the head within the metropolis of Cuautla in Morelos. Alternate candidates take workplace if the winner of a race is incapacitated or resigns.
About 27 candidates, largely operating for mayor or city councils, have been killed to date this yr. Whereas that isn’t a lot larger than in some previous elections, what’s unprecedented is the mass shootings: candidates was killed in focused assaults, however now criminals have taken to spraying complete marketing campaign occasions with gunfire.
