In Mexico, violence overtook the elections where 98.3 million registered voters were called to vote on Sunday June 2. The vote was mournful in a country plagued by drug trafficking, and where the UN counts around ten feminicides per day.
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Everywhere in Mexico, as soon as the polling stations opened on Sunday June 2, the influx of voters was already particularly strong. Long queues were visible in several cities across the country, in Cancun, Tlaxcala, Campeche… In Mexico City too, some voters waited in line for several hours in very hot weather, reports our correspondent in the capital, Gwendolina Duval. Note that large waiting girls have also been trained abroad, notably at the New York consulate. As a reminder, more than twelve million Mexicans live abroad, mainly in the United States.
Two people killed this Sunday
Delays due to the influx of voters but also to logistical problems to install the voting booths. The National Electoral Institute has in fact declared that at least 222 polling stations could not be set up for security reasons. Half in Chiapas, where the situation is very tense because of electoral violence.
This election – which must decide between the favorite for the presidential election, the candidate of the left in power Claudia Sheinbaum, from her rival Xochitl Galvez – has largely was overtaken by the scenes of violence. Since the start of the campaign, 31 candidates have been assassinated.
This Sunday alone, two people were killed in two attacks recorded in two localities in the state of Puebla against polling stations, a local government security source said. A candidate for local elections had already been killed in the same state on Friday. Another candidate for a minor mandate was killed in the night a few hours before the opening of polling stations in the west, according to the prosecution.
Reforming prosecutors’ offices
Violence will also be one of the priorities for the future president while Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has not been able to reduce the level of violence. Around 80 people are killed every day in Mexico, indicates our correspondent in Mexico, Achim Lippold. Voters also hope that the next president will tackle violence against women, another scourge in this country. But how to do it ? For political scientist Andrea Samaniego Sanchez, it is first essential to reform justice so that the crimes committed do not go unpunished. “ For me, it would be very important that there be reform in the prosecutors’ offices that are responsible for investigating crimes, who are responsible for examining all cases of violence. This is a sector that is seriously lacking in resources. Which is ultimately an invitation to impunity, an invitation to commit crimes. For example, in Mexico of all the crimes committed, it is estimated that only 5% are reported to the courts. It’s not much. And of these 5% of crimes reported, only 2% are ultimately punished. Imagine all the acts of violence going unpunished! », she is indignant.
Perhaps the whole problem we have with widespread violence in this country also comes from the fact that there are no institutions, there is no possibility to fight against this scourge. So in my opinion it would be important to give more financial and human resources to justice, so that these problems of violence can be resolved.
Andrea Samaniego Sanchez, Mexican political scientist
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