Candidates have continued to campaign at risk of attack in the final week before Sunday’s elections, although in one case the attack was devised by the candidate himself.
Marilú Martínez Núñez, a Citizens’ Movement candidate for mayor of Cutzamala de Pinzón, Guerrero, was kidnapped with her family Tuesday night by approximately 10 armed men. The military, the National Guard and state police are working to find them.
Head of the Citizens’ Movement in Guerrero, Adrián Wences Carrasco, said he was informed that outgoing mayor Timoteo Arce Solís could be behind the abduction. His wife, Rosa Jaimes, is running against Núñez.
In Puebla, meanwhile, Dr. Porfirio Eusebio Lima, a Green Party candidate for Acajete, was reported kidnapped on Saturday. But not only has he reappeared unharmed but admitted to staging the event, although the reason for doing so has not been revealed.
The candidate had checked into a hotel in Querétaro city using a false identity, but he was caught on security cameras. He had been there since Saturday.
In Quintana Roo, one case of election violence is closer to resolution. The Attorney General’s Office is investigating groups connected to the Sinaloa Cartel for the murder of mayoral candidate Ignacio Sánchez Cordero in Puerto Morelos, and an attack on his wife, Blanca Merari Tziu, who is now running in his place.
Although the nationwide violence has been reported as the worst in electoral history, President López Obrador declared on Wednesday that there is “peace and tranquility” in the entire country.
