• SIEGE: Mexico’s governing party MORENA has laid siege to the country’s electoral authority’s headquarters in Mexico City in protest for its decision to withdraw the Guerrero state gubernatorial candidacy of longtime politician Félix Salgado Macedonio for not filing pre-campaign expense reports.
• PRESSURE: Known by its Spanish acronym INE, the independent electoral authority is considered one of the cornerstones of Mexico’s democratic system. The MORENA party has appealed INE’s decision to withdraw the candidacy of Salgado Macedonio before Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal.
• REACTION: “The INE is no longer a referee, it has already done its job. Now it is on the side of the reactionaries, of the Ku Klux Klan”, said Salgado Macedonio on Wednesday. The southern state of Guerrero (pop. 3.5 million) is one the poorest in Mexico and will hold elections in June.
• CONTROVERSY: A perennial gubernatorial candidate, Salgado Macedonio has the support of Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and MORENA’s leadership despite allegations of rape that he has denied. The Electoral Tribunal is expected to decide on the appeal in the coming days.
