By EFE Agency
The National Electoral Institute (INE) of Mexico annulled this Thursday, due to various irregularities, the candidacy for the government of the state of Guerrero of the politician Félix Salgado Macedonio,
on whom accusations of rape and sexual abuse weigh
.
Salgado Macedonio represents the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party, the same as the current Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
He is a popular politician who has been a
senator, deputy and mayor of the tourist port of Acapulco
.
[AMLO's last three disagreements with the feminist movement in Mexico]
After a 12-hour session, the General Council of the INE made the decision to annul his candidacy with seven votes in favor and four against.
According to the Institute, the applicant "did not submit the pre-campaign expense report" as established by the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures.
Counselor Adriana Favela said that "it is not feasible for political parties to continue denying that there is a pre-campaign" and
pointed out that all applicants "must present a pre-campaign report"
regardless of the selection method within each party.
["I'm dead while I'm still alive": relatives of victims of feminicide and activists demonstrate in Mexico City this March 8]
Among those sanctioned by the INE, in addition to Salgado Macedonio, are Yair García, Fernando Lacunza, Pablo Amílcar Sandoval, Luis Walton and Adela Román, who suffered "the loss of the right to be registered as candidates, or, where appropriate, the cancellation of the registry "for the 2020-2021 electoral process in the state of Guerrero.
Guerrero gubernatorial candidate launches campaign despite accusation of alleged rape
March 13, 202100: 51
In the morning, at a rally in Zihuatanejo, Salgado Macedonio warned that if the INE withdrew his candidacy,
he would not take a step back
and the people of Guerrero would respond.
"The people of Guerrero are not going to stay with their arms folded and I am not going to crack," Salgado said and warned that if his candidacy was withdrawn, his party would take his claim before the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation and if necessary to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
["They raped me, they beat me and I felt like I was disappearing": in Mexico women suffer human rights abuses when they go out to protest]
Salgado Macedonio has a criminal complaint against him for "rape" against a woman
.
His candidacy has been involved in controversy since December 2020, when he won a first poll, because he is also accused of raping a minor in 1998 and abusing a journalist in 2016, in addition to being incriminated in al minus five other sexual assaults.
In mid-February, Morena registered Salgado Macedonio with the Electoral and Citizen Participation Institute as his candidate for governor of Guerrero for the elections on June 6.
Accusations against politicians for crimes of rape and corruption shake Mexico
Feb. 28, 202101: 49
However, in the face of feminist protests that spoke out against it, at the end of February
the party removed his candidacy
and agreed to carry out a new poll to define its candidate for governor of Guerrero, although it did not prohibit the participation of Salgado Macedonio .
Two weeks ago, the National Elections Commission of Morena
ratified Salgado Macedonio
as a candidate for governor, despite the accusations against him.
The party's internal body recognized that allowing Salgado Macedonio to participate generated strong criticism, mainly from organized women, but said that the "inaction" of the criminal courts and their "vices" prevented it from having conclusive elements on the accusations.
Despite various feminist protests in both Guerrero and Mexico City,
López Obrador supports Salgado Macedonio
and has even claimed that the accusations against the Morena senator are "fabricated."
With information from The Associated Press and Mexican media.