Mexico | Start of hostilities between the two presidential candidates

(Mexico City) “It will be my turn to be the first female president of Mexico.” Big favorite of the June 2 election, the candidate of the left in power Claudia Sheinbaum officially launched her campaign Friday in Mexico, attacked from a distance by her rival, Xochitl Galvez.

In front of a crowd of tens of thousands of people gathered in Zocalo Square in the center of Mexico City, the former mayor of the capital assured that he wanted to continue the “transformation” of the country by reducing inequalities, new increases in the minimum wage at key.

Designated to represent the Morena party of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Claudia Sheinbaum, 61, is riding on his popularity and promised to “take care of his legacy”.

She stressed that she wanted to “also fight for the women of Mexico”. “I think it’s a big step for all women” in the country, enthused Alejandra Santiesteban, a 26-year-old teacher who came to attend the speech, in the crowd.

M^me Sheinbaum also said he wanted to maintain a firm line vis-à-vis the United States.

“We will never lower our heads,” she said of Mexico’s big neighbor and largest trading partner. “Cooperation, yes, subordination, no”.

Regularly attacked by her liberal opponent on the government’s security record, the favorite of the election promised to tackle the “causes” of the violence and to “strengthen the National Guard” and coordinate action with the police. local.

Mexico records some 30,000 homicides per year, most of them linked to drug trafficking. The country also has tens of thousands of missing people.

Just Thursday, four soldiers were killed and nine injured in an explosive attack in the center of the country.

Wide gap

Campaigning in Guanajuato, the most violent state in the country, Xochitl Galvez, insisted on the need to “strengthen peace and security”.

“It’s an end to hugging delinquents,” she insisted from the town of Irapuato. “We are going to look for the missing, we are not going to forget them.”

The candidate made her mark by signing in her blood before a notary a document in which she undertakes not to eliminate the social programs put in place by the current left-wing government. Supported by three parties including the PAN (liberal right), she even mentioned retirement at 60.

Claudia Sheinbaum is credited with 63% of voting intentions, double those of her main opponent (31%).

“Although nothing is impossible in politics, with just over three months until the election, it is very unlikely that Galvez will be able to catch up,” said analyst Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank. Washington.

Lopez Obrador “is too popular and the government and party machine is too formidable,” he added, contacted by AFP.

A third candidate, Jorge Alvarez, currently has 5% of voting intentions. He launched his campaign in Lagos de Moreno, a town near Guadalajara (northwest) traumatized by the kidnapping and disappearance in August of five young people, undoubtedly tortured and executed.

Giant elections

Mexico is preparing to organize the biggest elections in its history, also with the renewal of deputies, senators, nine of the 32 state governors (including Mexico City) and other local ballots. In total, 99 million voters are called to the polls.

In this country of nearly 130 million inhabitants, 33 local political figures were assassinated between June 4 and February 7, according to the Laboratorio Electoral think tank, including sixteen future candidates.

This campaign presents itself as a test for Mexican democracy, open to alternation for 24 years, after 70 years of absolute domination of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

In power since December 2018, the Morena party and its allies have continued to consolidate their influence (presidency, absolute majority in the Assembly and the Senate, governorships in 23 of the 32 states).

On Friday, Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated her wish that “judges, magistrates and ministers of the judiciary be elected by the people of Mexico”.

This proposal appears in a package of constitutional reforms presented by Mr. Lopez Obrador in early February.

“We’re not touching democracy,” responded tens of thousands of demonstrators on February 12 in Mexico City, accusing the Morena party of seeking to take control of the justice system and electoral authorities through this means.

The outgoing head of state is not allowed to run again, as the Mexican Constitution allows only one six-year term.