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An Etellekt report says there have been over 200 attacks on Mexican politicians since September 2017. The attacks took place in 29 of the 32 federal states, mainly Puebla, Guerrero, Veracruz, Mexico State and Hidalgo.
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About 173 of the 203 attacks were direct attacks by members of organized crime groups, while 30 were against relatives of the politicians. There were 78 murders reported. Authorities have confirmed the deaths of at least 30 candidates, according to Mexico's interior secretary Alfonso Navarrete.
Etellekt disclosed that there have been about 60 attacks in the past month.
“The number of threats of death and intimidation against candidates has also increased greatly, forcing them to renounce their aspirations in exchange for not threatening their lives or relatives in many municipalities,” the report said.
The interior secretary told reporters that the attacks were “very focused on some regions of the country,” mostly in areas where organized crime is rampant.
“That doesn't mean we are not taking steps,” the interior secretary said. “We could do it in a much better manner in an electoral year, be much more effective,” Navarrete explained.
Some 66 percent of the murders were registered in the pre-campaign and inter-campaign period. There have been calls for security to be assigned to the victims, who a usually candidates running for office.
“Organized crime particularly attacked pre-candidates, this is where the greatest number of attacks occurred, at least 20 murders were against candidates or pre-candidates in a primordial manner at the municipal level, which is the most vulnerable sector of the country. The most affected parties are the PRI, with 29 dead activists, followed by the PRD.”
Jorge Lumbreras, coordinator of Advisors of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for the Attention of Electoral Crimes (Fepade), said the organization will carry out 17 ministerial pre-deployments at the national level, over the next two months.
Most of the cases remain unresolved and without a motive.
In 2016, Mexican mayors were nearly 12 times more likely to be killed than members of the general population, according to an analysis by Justice in Mexico.
"An organized crime group may believe that a mayor is collaborating with another group and needs to be removed immediately," said Laura Calderon, program officer for Justice in Mexico. "Or organized crime may feel betrayed that a mayor refused to collaborate, so they need to delete the mayor from the picture."
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