59 politicians killed so far during electoral process

Translated by El Profe for Borderland Beat from Nación 321

 Photo: Cuartoscuro

More than 50 politicians have been murdered in Mexico since September of last year

by Héctor Gutiérrez

The ex-precandidate for the PRD from the mayor’s office of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Homero Bravo Espino, was assassinated Friday night in said municipality.

According to the authorities, Bravo Espino, who worked as director of Public Works in the City Council of José Azueta (Ixtapa- Zihuatanejo), was attacked by unknown persons in the community of Barrio Viejo and later died.

The murder of Bravo Espino adds to the worrying dark figure that has been recorded since the beginning of the electoral process.

From September 2017, the month in which the electoral process started, to date, 58 politicians ahve been assassinated, including mayors, deputies and candidates for a position of popular election, an average of 9.6 people per month.

During the last week of February, Aarón Varela Martínez, mayoral candidate in Santa Clara Ocoyucan (Puebla) for Morena, and the leader of the CTM in Oaxaca, Alfredo Ramos Villalobos, were murdered. Last week, the candidates for a position in Chilapa, Guerrero, Dulce Anayely Rebaja, of the PRI, and Antonia Jaimes, of the PRD, were assassinated.

Adding to these four murders, recorded in the 2018 report on political violence, prepared by Etellekt Consultores between September 8, 2017 and February 6, there have been a total of 83 attacks against politicians in the country, 54 of which ended with the assassination of political actors, mainly acting mayors, former mayors, councilmen and precandidates at the local level.

#Interview in @OroNoticias : "During the last 5 months we have registered 83 assaults and 54 murders against candidates, precandidates and mayors,” Rubén Salazar, @etellekt_ . https://t.co/ykJNYRQfry - E Huerta Cuevas (@EHuertaCuevas) February 28, 2018

According to the consultant, "the violence intensified with the official start of the pre-campaign period. Since December 14, 2017, 29 of the 54 murders occurred -without taking into account the four most recent- warning of an increase in number of attacks as the internal selection processes are defined and pre-candidates are designated."

Given the degree of violence, the PRI bench in the Senate called on the federal government and the federal entities to implement protocols that guarantee the protection of authorities and candidates participating in the electoral process this year.

In a point of agreement, the PRI legislators recalled that so far in the electoral process there have been different recorded attacks against political actors and their families.

In addition, they pointed out that, from September 2017 to date, "there have been 25 murders of different politicians at the local and regional level: nine from the PRI, nine from the PRD, two from MC, two from Morena, one from the PAN, one from the PT, one of the Panal and another one of the Party of the Poor from the state of Guerrero."