Mexico admitted the murder of 15 election candidates

He Government of Mexico recognized this Tuesday the murder of 15 candidates in the current process according to Elections on June 2which officially started on October 1 last year, in addition to receiving more than 100 applications from candidates seeking protection from the threat of violence.

Of the victims, only two were already registered as official candidates with the electoral bodies, five were pre-candidates, and eight were candidates, i.e. they only expressed their intention to seek a position, as detailed in Conference of the Secretary for Security and Protection of Citizens, Rosa Icela Rodríguez.

“In the Government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, we are committed to the protection of candidates for various positions elected by the people, that is why there is a job, a plan for their protection and the presence of the National Guard in those areas where there is a problem of insecurity“, He said.

This is the first official figure from the Mexican government on electoral killings, which falls short of estimates by citizen organizations such as consultancy Data Int, which put 28 killed, while Data Cívica reported 10 in the first two months of 2024 and 11 in the second half of 2023.

Rodríguez assured that the Government has a joint strategy with the National Electoral Institute (INE) for the protection of federal candidates whose resolution does not require more than 72 hours.

“As of April 1, we have 108 protection requests, of which 86 have been resolved, 10 have been denied, and 12 are under risk analysis.”the official explained.

The requests, he specified, include three candidates for president, seven candidates for governor, 27 for the Senate and 71 for deputy.

Of those requests, 34 were from candidates of parties affiliated with the ruling party, and the rest from the opposition, according to a chart presented by the secretary.

“The government is waiting for all the demands of the candidates and parties, so that they can be addressed immediately and the election process can be carried out peacefully”, held.

The head of security reminded that the federal government protects candidates for federal positions and governors with members of the National Guard Corps, while “state and municipal authorities do so with those aspiring to local elective positions.”

He recalled that the elections on June 2 will be the largest in the history of Mexico, with more than 20,000 popularly elected positions with a still growing list of 70,000 candidates.