Last weekend, the two candidates contending to become Mexico’s first female president went toe-to-toe in the third and final televised debate, covering a topic that sits at the heart of this country’s troubled psyche: crime and violence.
Reflecting on an issue she believes is her trump card to winning the election, opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez slammed what she called the federal government’s “failed” security policies, highlighting the 186,000 murders and 50,000 disappearances over the last six years.
“What has been this government’s strategy?” Gálvez asked. “Hand over the country to organized crime.”
Declaring crime to be “rampant” throughout the country, Gálvez accused the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of entering “a pact with criminals.”
To back up her claims, Gálvez cited the new book by award-winning investigative journalist Anabel Hernández, “La historia secreta: AMLO y el Cártel de Sinaloa” (The Secret History: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel), which explores the allegations of links between the current president and drug trafficking organizations, dating back two decades (see sidebar). Gálvez also alluded to reports that U.S. authorities are investigating ruling Morena Party President Mario Delgado for alleged ties to fuel theft and black market gasoline distribution, a crime known in Mexico as “huachicoleo.”
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.