President Andrés Manuel López Obrador remarked that there is no involvement of organized crime in the current electoral process, contrary to what opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez suggested.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador commented that there is no involvement of organized crime in the current electoral process, as suggested by opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez.

“The electoral authorities are doing their job; that’s why candidates who request protection through the INE are being provided with it. Whenever there’s an election, they always use violence or fear, always. In fact, they started with that here,” said AMLO.

In an interview with a media outlet, the candidate of the Coalition Strength and Heart for Mexico commented that the National Electoral Institute (INE) and the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Power (TEPJF) fail to realize the seriousness of the intervention in the current electoral process.

According to the platform “Votar entre Balas” (Voting Amid Bullets), between September 2023 and April 13, 2024, a total of 48 different attacks against aspirants, candidates, or precandidates for an elected position have been registered during the aforementioned period.

Of this total, murders are the most prevalent crime with a record of 24 people killed; they are followed by attempted murders with nine cases, kidnappings with six, and threats and armed attacks with four cases each, respectively.

López Obrador emphasized that his administration does not succumb to pressure from anyone and rejected the possibility of establishing complicity with criminal groups. He affirmed that the government’s strategy is to guarantee the security and protection of the civilian population, as well as to combat violence without resorting to further violence.