Mexican bishops warn against cartel interference in elections

By Delphine Allaire

Mexico’s federal elections on June 2 are shaping up to be historic both in terms of record voter turnout and positions to be filled.

Mexicans will elect a new president and the 628 members of both chambers of Congress, as well as 9 out of 32 state governors, and other local officials for a total of 20,000 elected positions.

For the first time, two women will vie to succeed the current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who has completed six years in office.

The outgoing mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, a successor of the current left-wing president and the favourite in the election, will face off against the right-wing senator Xochitl Galvez in a climate of unprecedented violence in the country.

The electoral campaign has already been marred by bloodshed with the death of four soldiers on its first day, Friday, March 1, in a bomb attack on an army patrol in the west.

The more than 120 bishops who make up the Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM) have warned against allowing violence to influence the election.

"Electoral democracy mixed with organized crime is a completely unacceptable combination, a sign of the most deplorable corruption that must be avoided at all costs."

Do not make deals with organized crime

In a message to the Mexican nation published on Sunday, March 3, they lamented “a pact among organized crime and criminal groups to pretend to organize peaceful elections."

In Mexico, which records 30,000 homicides per year, most linked to drug trafficking, the 120 bishops call for peaceful electoral campaigns and invite citizens to avoid "apathy, indifference, and abstentionism."

"The conditions the country is going through are unfortunately not the best, as it is evident that, for some time now, we have had many problems in terms of security, social inequality, economic growth, lack of formal and decent jobs, coverage and quality of education and health, migration, social polarization, and other issues," they noted.

The bishops said they are driven by the desire "to build together the appropriate environment, supported by truth and justice, to celebrate this important political process in peace."

An example of civility consistent with Mexican democracy

In this electoral process, the bishops recalled that the greatness of Mexico, providentially blessed by "the event of Guadalupe," "calls us, in special moments, to give the best of ourselves, as will undoubtedly happen in the electoral process of this year 2024, which will culminate on Sunday, June 2."

The bishops admitted they are aware of “certain risks that threaten democratic stability through criminal violence and, at the same time, affect the freedom of citizens."

It was discovered that four Mexican bishops met with cartel leaders in the state of Guerrero (southwest) on February 14, to negotiate a peace agreement. The mediation proposal was supported by AMLO, but rejected by criminal organizations.

The bishops now hope that the 2024 electoral process will be "an example of civility consistent with the democratic culture that Mexicans have built and perfected in recent decades."

They believe that it is up to the officials of the electoral institutions, the National Electoral Institute (INE), the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF), and the Special Prosecutor's Office for Electoral Offenses (FISEL) to act with impartiality and justice, with ethics and professional competence, to ensure that the process takes place legally and that any possible anomalies are corrected in a timely manner.

Increased electoral violence

The bishops urged Mexicans to avoid attacks and assassinations of candidates, politicians, relatives, journalists, and other citizens in connection with elections, which have multiplied in recent weeks.

Thirty-three local political figures were assassinated between June 4 and February 7, according to the think tank Electoral Laboratory cited by AFP, including sixteen future candidates.

The Mexican bishops finally indicated that electoral campaigns must favour the exercise of free, informed, and secret voting, without manipulation or deception, without undue interference from government authorities or of any other nature.