An electoral campaign marked by growing political violence: already 33 victims since the beginning of the year. Church and civil society ask to combat the “human rights crisis” and to improve the justice system and security. Here are the candidates for the presidential elections on June 2nd
Officials, active and former politicians, candidates and their families are among the victims of the crime that is rampant in this period preceding the presidential elections in Mexico. For about four months there has been an average of one attack per day on people linked to the world of politics. The budget is the result of the work of “Integralia”, a public affairs consultancy company.
From September last year – the start date of the electoral campaign – to February this year, 182 episodes of political violence were recorded, from offenses on social media to physical attacks, which caused 33 victims in 2024. At least one candidate is attacked every four days, the document states, which represents a worrying wake-up call for public order in the country.
The states of Guerrero (where there are also i PIME missionaries), Michoacán and Chiapas top the list of territories with the highest number of attacks. In this heavy climate, the next one June 2 the Mexican population will have to go to the vote to choose who to lead for the next six years.
The main candidates were Claudia Sheinbaum, Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez.
Claudia Sheinbaum she is the candidate of the incumbent president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, an expression of the National Regeneration Movement, commonly known as Morena. She is also supported by the Labor Party (Pt) and the Green Ecologist Party. Born in 1962 in Mexico City, of which she was governor, she graduated in Physics and obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate in Energy Engineering. A faithful ally of Obrador, she has accompanied the President since, in 2018, he became the first Mexican head of state not belonging to the historic parties of the PRI or the PAN.
At the head of the extended Front “Fuerza y Corazón por México” (Strength and Heart for Mexico) we find another woman: Xochitl Galvez. Of indigenous origins, Gálvez was born in Tepatepec, in the state of Hidalgo on February 22, 1963. Knowing well the difficult reality of the indigenous populations, Gálvez has great attention for the numerous representatives of the original people of this great country. She graduated in Computer Engineering, thanks to a scholarship, she became an entrepreneur. And you are currently on the list of 100 global leaders of the future, a list drawn up by the Davos Economic Forum. In 2000 she was invited to join President Vicente Fox’s government as director of the Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples. Since 2018 you have sat in the Senate for the National Action Party. She is supported by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the PAN.
Jorge Álvarez Máynez, however, is the candidate of the Citizens’ Movement. Federal deputy, 38 years old, he is the youngest candidate to lead the country.
The bishops of Catholic church and the representatives of the religious orders asked the candidates to share and work together to heal the dramatic wounds of a country still marked by too much suffering; feminicides and crime, impunity and corruption are the signs of a wounded social state.
The document “National commitment to peace”, shared with the major candidates, brings together public policy strategies focused on eradicating injustices. The proposals are the result of a dialogue that took place during an entire year between religious institutes, starting from the Jesuits, the Catholic Church, business entities and civil society.
The initiatives proposed by the Mexican Episcopal Conference (Cem) are based on seven actions to «build and strengthen the social fabric», strengthen the municipal police to obtain a «gradual withdrawal of the military» and counter the “human rights crisis”. Furthermore, it proposes the renewal and improvement of the justice and security system to comprehensively address the shortcomings present at both the federal and state levels.