MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – More than a hundred murders of Mexican officials and candidates in recent months have indicated that the country’s midterm elections have become the most violent in decades, local advisory firm Etellekt said in a report.
Between September 2020 and the first week of March, 126 Mexican politicians and candidates were killed.
On June 6, Mexicans elect 500 lawmakers, 15 governors and more than 20,000 local officials.
“So far, the number of crimes is lower than registered in the 2018 election, but it is increasing,” said Ruben Salazar, director of the advisory bureau.
“Just in March, one politician was killed every day. “If this rate continues, it could be the most violent election since the Mexican Revolution,” he said, referring to the armed conflict between 1910 and 1917.
Salazar said most of the murdered politicians were members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which was in power between 1930 and 2000 at different times.
The attacks on all politicians have increased by 4% compared to the 2018 presidential election, with cases of kidnapping, robbery, violence and threats, including crimes, the report released on Friday showed.
Rosa Rodriguez, head of the Ministry of Security, promised a protection plan for candidates this week. The plan establishes protocols depending on the level of political violence, crime prevention and risks to the election process, Rodriguez said.
Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Edited by Leslie Adler