Candidates Shot, Kidnapped, Tied With Noose as Mexico Vote Nears
Cyntia Barrera Diaz, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- An Olympic athlete running for mayor of a quaint resort town is kidnapped and threatened if she doesn’t drop out of the race, her party says. The son of a prominent politician is held by townspeople who tie him in a noose. A candidate in northern Mexico is shot dead in broad daylight after tweeting he would fight violence.
As Mexico’s June 6 midterm elections approach, aggression against candidates and politicians has risen 64% above record levels seen during the 2018 presidential race, according to Etellekt consultancy, which tracks election-related violence. Killings alone are slightly lower than during the same period in 2018, with 79 politicians murdered, but they’re up compared to the previous midterm vote in 2015.
At stake is the proper functioning of Mexico’s largest-ever election, as measured by number of offices up for grabs. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged measures to keep politicians safe, but his “hugs not bullets” approach to fighting drug violence has raised questions about the government’s ability to rein in attempts by organized crime groups to interfere in the midterms.
“This is a time when some criminal actors feel greater leeway than before, perceiving the inertia by the federal government,” said Falko Ernst, a senior analyst in Mexico at the Crisis Group, an international conflict-prevention think-tank.
More:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/candidates-shot-kidnapped-tied-with-noose-as-mexico-vote-nears-1.1607193
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador:
" “hugs not bullets” "
Really? Or is this just ordinary, over-used conservative propaganda?