In 2024, Mexico will experience the largest electoral process in its history and it will be next Sunday, June 2, when more than 100 million voters will elect 629 political positions, including the most important: that of its first female president
by Xochitl TC
Special for El Reportero
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 – One of the most important nations for the Hispanic community in the United States, is experiencing the most important federal electoral process in its history. We are referring to Mexico, a country full of history, culture and diversity, where this June 2 around 100 million voters – mostly young people between 18 and 29 years old – will elect the first female president of the tricolor country, 500 deputies and 128 federal senators. Likewise, the 32 states are experiencing a local electoral process and with this, there are a total of 20,708 positions throughout the country.
But what has marked this contest?
According to different Mexican media, this electoral contest has been marked by an unprecedented wave of violence, since unfortunately factors such as organized crime and attacks against different candidates throughout the country have claimed 51 collateral victims, as indicated by the second Political Violence report from the Electoral Laboratory. This results in a 212 percent increase in cases of electoral violence, compared to 2023.
In that same document, it stands out that the entities with the highest number of attacks or attacks recorded are Michoacán with 34 cases, Chiapas with 13, Morelos with 12, Jalisco with 7 and Oaxaca with 6, with the official party being the most affected by this situation. This is indicated by the public affairs consultancy Integralia, stating that MORENA concentrates 31.8 percent of the attacks against its applicants or candidates, in this process.
Michoacán, the state with the most attacks
This Monday, April 15, the local process officially began in Michoacán, a state located in western Mexico, which occupies third place nationally in terms of migratory flow, which has prevailed for many decades. It is estimated that 94 out of every 100 residents of this entity have migrated to the United States, as reported by UN Migration in its study “Migration Governance Indicators.”
However, what has Michoacán in the news focus today is the high number of attacks suffered by those seeking political office in this race. A fact that has unleashed an environment of distrust, fear and uncertainty among the population, since from one moment to the next the first candidates from all parties declined in their search for a candidacy.
For many of the already candidates, the path has not been easy, because despite the complaints of the state leaders of the parties (MORENA, PRI, PAN, PRD, MC, PES, etc.), 21 candidates have requested protection from the government federal to safeguard its integrity, since so far the entity known as El Alma de México has 10 murdered candidates from MORENA and 5 from the National Action Party (PAN).
Hugs or protective measures for candidates?
Due to the lack of security guarantees in this electoral process, 21 candidates who feel their integrity and life have been violated, have requested protection from the government of Mexico, the State government and the federal electoral institutions (INE, National Electoral Institute) and local (IEM, Electoral Institute of Michoacán), since after having received direct threats they fear being kidnapped or suffering any type of attack against them or their family members.
Given the latent wave of violence against candidates, state party leaders have indicated that of the 113 municipalities of Michoacán, in some they have decided not to launch candidacies or to carry out a discreet electoral process to avoid putting the lives of their militants at risk. This was indicated at a press conference by the state leader of PRD, Octavio Ocampo Córdova, asking that “all candidates can participate freely, and that there be an atmosphere of peace and tranquility without them being candidates, but as citizens in general, so he declared it.
What AMLO asks for are hugs
Faced with the facts, complaints and requests for protection by candidates – throughout Mexico – President Andrés Manuel López Obrados (AMLO) minimized the situation of violence experienced by the majority of candidates for public office, indicating that it is “ a matter of advertisers who seek to generate fear,” he added that there are participants who seek to magnify insecurity problems and “make a fool of the situation.”
This statement by the Mexican president was made during his daily morning conference from the National Palace on March 5, where he also emphasized “what I can comment is that people are very calm and would say happy, as demonstrated by the Inegi survey. The people of Mexico are happy and there is no environment that they want to position for electoral political purposes, the truth is that the strategists are very confused because this does not help them at all”, a statement that clashes with the perception of insecurity at the national level.
Political violence is on the roads of Michoacán and Guanajuato
The panorama of violence in Mexico is not only seen in Michoacán, it is a generalized situation at the national level and this has made international media and electoral observers from other countries turn their eyes to the 2024 electoral process.
It was on Monday, April 1, when Gisela Gaytán, MORENA candidate for the municipal presidency of Celaya, Guanajuato, was shot dead in the middle of a rally with hundreds of people. And regarding this fact, journalist Héctor De Mauleón highlights in his Third Person column of the newspaper El Universal that “The governor (of Guanajuato) revealed that one of the lines of investigation are the internal conflicts of Morena in Guanajuato and revealed that On the same night of the murder, the militants of that party were discussing candidacy options: there was really no mourning, let alone real pain for this death: I saw them taking advantage, taking a political swipe… I think that this face that Morena has shown is the lowest of politics.”
He remembers that as a Mexican residing abroad, you can participate in the electoral process and change the course of Mexico. For more information about voting abroad, visit https://votoextranjero.mx/web/vmre/inicio.
