A Shocking Number of Candidates Were Assassinated Ahead of Mexico's Elections

Leah Barkoukis | June 04, 2024 11:30 AM

Prior to Mexico's June 2 elections, 37 candidates, mainly at the local level, were assassinated.

The most recent candidate to be killed was Jorge Huerta Cabrera, who was running for local office in the town of Izucar de Matamoros. He was fatally shot Friday as he exited his vehicle.

The killing takes the number of assassinated candidates in the 2024 election season to 37, one more than during the 2021 midterm election when 36 candidates were killed, according to data from security consultancy Integralia.
The issue of violent crime has emerged as one of the top issues in this year's presidential contest, in which the ruling party of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been forced to defend a persistently high murder rate, as the opposition has sought to use the bloodshed to argue for change. [...]
"It's possible that violence is being used as a means to define the election in advance, particularly when certain interests are perceived to be at risk in the event that a particular political project triumphs," said Armando Vargas, an Integralia researcher.
The consultancy has also counted 828 non-lethal attacks on candidates during the current election season, up from 749 since just Monday.
Analysts point to Mexico's mix of powerful drug cartels and often corrupt local governments as contributing to the dangers faced by candidates.
Earlier this week, a local mayoral candidate in southern Guerrero state was gunned down at point-blank range during a campaign rally.
He was among 560 candidates and election officials who have been given security guards by the government due to persistent threats. (Reuters)

The political violence was overshadowed by leftist Claudia Sheinbaum's historic win, making her the nation's first female president.

Jewish woman elected as Mexico’s new President. 🇲🇽

Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, has won the Mexican presidential election by a landslide with 58% of the vote.

She is the countries first ever female president and first ever Jewish leader.

The 61 year… pic.twitter.com/gpMse8M5ZX
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 3, 2024

Claudia Sheinbaum, a Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist, will become Mexico's first female president after winning a landslide election victory and promising to continue the work of her mentor and outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador https://t.co/OIywFdMwLs pic.twitter.com/XlJbat2wtz
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 3, 2024

Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum @Claudiashein is not a scientist.

While she has a PhD, it's in something called "energy engineering." Her doctoral thesis was a leftist take on energy policy: "Sustainability? Ask the indigenous people of Chiapas."… pic.twitter.com/nviQdHoLGv
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) June 3, 2024