MEXICO elections are drawing close as the country prepares to take to the polls in two days, and political upheaval is predicted. What effect do the Mexican cartels have on politics?
Mexico prepares to vote this weekend on July 1, with a potential upset to the landscape of Mexican politics on the horizon.
Current frontrunner Andrés Manuel López Obrador - known as AMLO - is looking to cause a shake-up as polls place the leftist candidate with a big lead.
He is joined in the runnings by his closest rival Ricardo Anaya of the National Action Party (PAN), Antonio Meade of the current ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party PRI, and Independent candidate Jaime Rodriguez.
Frontrunner AMLO has been running a campaign of anti-corruption, throwing several allegations at Ricardo Anaya to try and stall his campaign.
What are the Mexican cartels?
Mexican cartels are large criminal organizations that exist within Mexico, known primarily for controlling drug trafficking.
The war against the cartels has resulted in violent clashes between Mexican authorities, protestors, and journalists, meaning the murder rate is sky-high.
In 2017 alone, murder rates in Mexico reached a staggering 25,000, accounting for more than 10 percent of those in the last decade.
With authorities waging a war against the cartels, it is no surprise some officials have taken to making their bed with the gangs in order to keep their positions.
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| Mexico elections 2018: Do drug cartels effect the elections? (Image: GETTY) |
How have the cartels influenced Mexican politics?
During the administration of Vincente Fox, official links to the cartel apparently became more common - even in armed groups, according to Anabel Hernandez, journalist, and author of Narcoland.
In her book, she says: “They are the Narco’s hired assassins, using the guns, uniforms, and badges that are paid for by us, the same Mexican taxpayers who are assaulted by death from every side.”
For years, the Mexican border has allegedly been patrolled by a hit squad named La Linea, which was controlled by the Juarez cartel.
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| Drug lord El Chapo is captured and arrested (Image: GETTY) |
And Hernandez claims this group, known for their particular brand of violence, was mainly made up of local and federal police - as well as members of the armed forces.
She said: “Many officials are capable of doing anything to protect their positions.
“Even the government ministers, as far as the drug traffickers are concerned, are nothing more than their employees, their servants, part of the staff.”
In May 2006, the former right-hand man of Heriberto Santillan, a member of the cartel under drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, said: “The Mexican government, the police, the military: they are the Cartel”.
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| Mexico cartel drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes is arrested (Image: GETTY) |
Hernandez explains the camp of famed drug lord El Chapo Guzman and his allies was allegedly composed primarily of senior government officials.
“This is no isolated or fortuitous occurrence, but such a common feature that it looks like government policy,” Hernandez said.
The cartels seem to be a natural feature of the Mexican political landscape and, with a drug war waging on, a strong stance on cartel power could bring both public votes and political threat.
More than 130 candidates have been murdered in the run-up to the election this year, as both general and presidential elections loom.
However, corruption allegations towards the current candidates do not mention cartel interference - instead stating that candidates have a bias for employing friends.
AMLO’s top two rivals paint the former Mexico City mayor as a man who favors friends for infrastructure contracts.
Ricardo Anaya was also under attack after a video emerged suggesting he received campaign donations from a businessman on the promise of favors.
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