The narco casts a shadow over the elections in Guerrero: candidates abandon campaigns due to death threats

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Threats to candidates of the Movimiento Ciudadano are forcing them to resign in Guerrero.

From March 4 to April 30, 234 candidates in the current electoral process had denounced threats and requested protection from the government, according to the Secretary of Public Security, Rosa Isela Rodríguez. It is not known the states where these warnings have been present, but it is the applicants themselves who, through networks, have abruptly denounced the attacks of organized crime.

The threats to candidated from the municipality of Izcapuzalco, Guerrero, postulated by the Movimeinto Ciudadano, forced them to resign. Candidates for mayor, councilors and trustees decided to resign after being threatened by an organized crime groups, stated the state leader of that party in Guerrero.

Another case is that of the candidate for mayor of Cocula, Erick Ulises Ramírez Crespo, who had to ask for an increase in the number of police officers for his personal safety. On Monday, May 3rd, when Ramírez Crespo was holding a rally, gunmen fired several shots, causing those who participated in the act to run away in terror.

The river of blood that runs in the elections has not reached Guerrero in abundance, but agreements have had to be made, not with the authorities, but with those who really govern in those parts (the drug traffickers).

In Guerrero, two criminal groups (Los Ardillos and Los Rojos) have been singled out for their links with local authorities, which has allowed them to strengthen their power in the region.

Anabel Hernández, author of the book El Traidor (Grijalbo: 2019) explains that in areas where bloody battles are fought, criminals launch disputes that are more silent, discreet, but equally, or more dangerous: those of political control, through economic support in campaigns and the imposition of candidates. With this in their favor, the drug traffickers are able to expand their power, counter that of their rivals, and secure free zones for the establishment of their routes.

The interest of the drug traffickers in the elections is also related to the possibility to make investments in the industrial, commercial or real estate sectors, through front companies with which they launder their profits.

Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora, Campeche, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tlaxcala, and Zacatecas are the 15 entities where governors will be elected on June 6.

Except for Tlaxcala, all of these states are strategic in drug trafficking and production, so the cartels will try to secure territory and electoral space.

The phenomenon of drug leakage at the polls is regional in nature. According to experts, the main drug cartels are feudalized confederations in permanent war with each other.

This year is not the first in which the narco ostensibly intends to intervene in the elections. In 2018, the deaths of at least 49 candidates who were executed by organized crime were counted. Clearly, these murders were an extreme measure in a process of disagreements between the political class and the local criminal power.

Source: INFOBAE

The Guerrero Post