Mexico’s presidential hopefuls accuse each other’s parties of cartel ties

The debate between Claudia Sheinbaum, of Mexico’s governing Morena party, and Xóchitl Gálvez, who represents an opposition coalition, offered a glimpse into their policies on cross-border issues. Drug trafficking is a particularly thorny subject; Mexico is the No. 1 source of fentanyl sold in the United States, and the main source or transit country for heroin, cocaine and other drugs.

Sheinbaum, who holds a wide lead in polls, said declaring a “war on drugs” was “one of the most terrible decisions” in recent Mexican history, setting off a wave of violence that hasn’t subsided. She staunchly defended the policies President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of her mentor, who has curtailed cooperation with the DEA and emphasized social programs to deter young people from working for cartels.

But she also offered some new ideas, saying she would adopt changes that had sharply reduced crime in Mexico City when she was mayor from 2018 to 2023. They included creating police intelligence units, increasing cooperation between officers and prosecutors and dramatically increasing the number of security cameras.

“We have results,” she said, “and we will bring them to the entire country.”

Gálvez, a senator from the conservative National Action Party, noted that more than 186,000 people in Mexico have been murdered since López Obrador took office in December 2018, and 50,000 more were missing.

“The security situation has been a disaster,” she said. “And what has been the strategy of this government? To give the country to organized crime.”

She promised to reverse López Obrador’s policy of using the army for nonsecurity activities such as building railroads and turn soldiers’ focus back to fighting crime. She also said she would beef up state and local police.

The candidates are each trying to become Mexico’s first female president. A third candidate from a small party, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, trails far behind.

Mexico is suffering a wave of electoral bloodshed as organized crime groups battle to install their candidates, especially at the mayoral level.

In just one state, Chiapas, gunmen have attacked four candidates or their staffs since Thursday, leaving at least 14 people dead. More than 230 candidates have dropped out of the race in the state bordering Guatemala, according to electoral authorities, part of a massive wave of resignations of candidates around the country facing threats.

Sheinbaum, an environmental engineer, says she reduced homicides in the capital by half while slashing other major crimes like robberies and assaults. Analysts have questioned her numbers, noting that about a third of violent deaths in the city are listed as having an “undefined” cause.

Still, College of Mexico political scientist Rodrigo Peña said, “we have had a very important reduction in many crimes in Mexico City.” Peña, who oversaw a recent study of the capital’s security strategy, said Sheinbaum chose highly qualified civilian officials, oversaw progress in daily meetings, unified the police under a single command and managed to get prosecutors and police to work together more closely.

But it might not be easy to scale such practices nationwide. “I think it will be complicated,” he said. “She will find a lot of resistance in different parts of the country.”

Sheinbaum and Gálvez accused each other’s political party of cutting deals with cartels. Neither offered detailed proposals on how to reduce the ties between politicians and criminals that have allowed mafias to take control of much of the country’s territory.

On migration, Sheinbaum largely echoed López Obrador’s philosophy that it was paramount to address factors such as a lack of jobs that force people to leave home. She characterized former president Enrique Peña Nieto as suffering “humiliation at the hands of Trump” and said the U.S. government now treats Mexico as an equal. “The era of submission in foreign policy is over,” she said.

She didn’t mention that López Obrador also gave in to pressure from Trump to curb the flow of migrants and allow U.S.-bound asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their appointments. López Obrador’s government “bowed to Donald Trump,” Gálvez said.

Gálvez, a tech entrepreneur, said she would “establish order on our southern border” with Guatemala, where “criminals control migration.” She did not provide details.

López Obrador generally got along with Trump and President Biden, becoming a key U.S. partner in controlling irregular migration. Sheinbaum and Gálvez have emphasized that they want to continue good relations with Mexico’s neighbor and No. 1 trading partner.

But Trump has discussed a more aggressive policy toward Mexico if he wins a second term, including possibly imposing tariffs on imports, using the U.S. military to combat fentanyl producers and launching a sweeping effort to deport migrants without documentation.

Leo Zuckerman, a Mexican analyst, noted on N+ television that the candidates devoted little attention to how U.S. policy could change after the November election. “None of the three talked about the great risk to our foreign policy, which is Trump,” he said.

Lorena Ríos in Monterrey, Mexico, contributed to this report.