Omar Plancarte Hernández, a candidate for mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, for the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM), was kidnapped on Tuesday, May 25th, by armed men in the municipality of Villa Jiménez.
The aspiring municipal president was on a ranch he owned in the community of Caurio de Guadalupe when he was surprised by a command that forced him to board a gray Jetta vehicle.
The Ministry of Public Security (SSP) of Michoacán deployed a search operation, involving the Army and the National Guard, and inspection filters were installed all over the area.
The avocado businessman also had expressed in various interviews that organized crime had taken over Uruapan. In 2012, he denounced the kidnapping of two of his children in Jalisco, where they were studying. On that date, the politician and businessman attributed the incident to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, as they allegedly thought he was a relattive of the leader of the Knights Templar, Enrique “Kike” Plancarte.
The PVEM state leadership confirmed the kidnapping of its candidate, and stated that “they only generate uncertainty for citizens and our state.” A few days ago, a truck belonging to the campaign team of that party’s candidate for governor, Juan Antonio Magaña de la Mora, was stolen and burned in the municipality of Nahuatzen, where the applicant had gone to meet with militants.
Desplegamos un dispositivo de búsqueda en el municipio de Jiménez, tras el reporte de la presunta privación de la libertad del candidato a la presidencia municipal de #Uruapan, Omar Plancarte Hernández. pic.twitter.com/4Zwn2Ws4yU
— SSP MICHOACÁN (@MICHOACANSSP) May 25, 2021
Just this Monday, electoral specialists from the United States and Canada warned that the elections underway in our country present challenges such as the infiltration of illicit money in the campaigns and the growing violence against candidates.
“One of the most worrying challenges is the growing trend of political violence in Mexico, which has resulted in the murder of political candidates and elected leaders seeking reelection. This phenomenon, which at this juncture is more prevalent at the municipal and state level, ”said Armand Peschard, International Observer for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Just last Sunday, Arturo Flores Bautista, candidate of the Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) party, the head of the municipal government of Landa de Matamoros, Querétaro, was assassinated.
According to the head of the Federal Security Secretariat, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, 13 candidates have been assassinated so far in political campaigns; 148 applicants are under police protection; 187 have received threats, 101 reported some type of aggression, and 11 had been kidnapped.
According to the consulting firm Etellekt, as of May 20th, 86 politicians had been assassinated throughout the country, of which 32 were candidates for a post of popular election.
Source: El Economista
