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Mexico Election Heats Up As Two Women Vie For Presidency

Published

2 years ago

March 1, 2024

Editor

Campaigning officially began Friday for elections likely to produce Mexico’s first woman president – a watershed for a nation with a long tradition of macho culture.

Opposition candidate, Xochitl Galvez, launched her campaign after the stroke of midnight in one of Mexico’s most dangerous states, seeking to tap into voter concerns about the country’s rampant violence.

Public opinion polls suggest that she faces a tough battle against ruling party candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor and close ally of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known by his initials AMLO.

With three months to go before the June 2 vote, Sheinbaum, a 61-year-old scientist by training, enjoys a significant lead with 63 per cent support, according to an average of polls compiled by the Oraculus research firm.

Galvez, also 61, has 31 per cent support, while Jorge Alvarez, 38, of the Citizens’ Movement party is a distant third with just five per cent, polls show.

At stake is the future of Latin America’s second-largest economy, a country of 126 million people that is a key trading partner of the United States and a major tourist destination, but which faces huge challenges from illegal migration and drug-related violence.

Galvez, an outspoken businesswoman with Indigenous roots, sought to put the focus on the country’s insecurity with a night-time rally in the city of Fresnillo in the violence-wracked central state of Zacatecas.

She led a candle-lit march through the streets before sharing the stage with a relative of one of Mexico’s more than 100,000 missing persons, holding a minute’s silence for victims of violence.

“Here in Fresnillo, as in all of Mexico, people are afraid,” Galvez said, hitting out at Lopez Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” strategy to tackle violent crime at its roots by combating poverty and inequality, rather than using military force.

“Hugs for criminals are over,” she said.

“To have a Mexico without fear, we’re going to restrain the most violent and aggressive criminal organizations in our country,” she added.

It was the first of several planned stops in cities considered by their residents to be among the most unsafe in Mexico, to highlight what Galvez says is the government’s failure to tackle spiraling violence.

Nearly 450,000 people have been murdered across Mexico since 2006 when then-president Felipe Calderon launched a controversial anti-drug military campaign, according to official figures.

‘Formidable party machinery’
Sheinbaum is a staunch supporter and confidant of Lopez Obrador, a leftwing populist who enjoys an approval rating of nearly 70 per cent according to Oraculus, but who is required by the constitution to leave office after one term.

The granddaughter of Bulgarian and Lithuanian Jewish migrants, Sheinbaum has vowed to continue Lopez Obrador’s policy agenda.

“Sheinbaum is in a very strong position, with a significant lead in the polls over Galvez,” analyst Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington told AFP.

“Although nothing is impossible in politics, with just over three months to go before the election, it is highly unlikely that Galvez will be able to gain enough ground to make it a competitive race. AMLO is too popular, and the government and party machinery is too formidable,” he added.

Sheinbaum is due to address supporters on Friday afternoon in Mexico City’s main square, the heart of the city she governed from 2018 until last year when she stepped down to run for president.

On the eve of her campaign launch, Sheinbaum said that her opponents were “looking for a way to rise in the polls, but there is no way they can do it because we represent the future, and they represent the past.”

Galvez represents an opposition coalition made up of the Institutional Revolutionary Party – which ruled the country for more than 70 years until 2000 – the conservative National Action Party and the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution.

But her background sets her apart from the traditional conservative opposition – she wears Indigenous clothing, uses colloquial language peppered with swear words and is known for travelling around Mexico City by bicycle.

AFP

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South African Court Finds Radical Politician Malema Guilty On Gun Charges

Published

18 hours ago

October 1, 2025

Editor

A South African court on Wednesday found firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema guilty of violating gun laws for firing an assault rifle at a 2018 rally.

Malema, leader of the radical anti-capitalist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, is known for fiery speeches and courting political tensions both at home and abroad.

The 44-year-old and his former bodyguard were charged with firing the gun in the air during the EFF’s fifth birthday celebration in Eastern Cape province.

The court found him guilty of unlawful possession, reckless endangerment, among other charges, the National Prosecuting Authority said.

Malema could face up to 15 years in prison. The case will be heard on January 23 next year for pre-sentencing.

Malema, who was present in court for the verdict, said he will appeal the decision.

Speaking to supporters outside, he struck a defiant tone: “As a revolutionary, going to prison or death is a badge of honour. We cannot be scared of prison or dying for the revolution.”

In August, Malema was found guilty of hate speech for telling his supporters at a 2022 rally that they should “never be scared to kill.”

He has long been criticised by South Africa’s white minority for his radical rhetoric and his singing of the anti-apartheid song “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer”, which some say incites anti-white violence.

Headline

Church Scaffold Collapse Kills 36

Published

21 hours ago

October 1, 2025

Editor

Makeshift scaffolding set up at a church in Ethiopia collapsed on Wednesday, killing at least 36 people and injuring more than 200, state media said.

The incident occurred at around 7:45 am in the town of Arerti, roughly 70 kilometres (40 miles) east of the capital Addis Ababa, when a group was visiting for an annual Virgin Mary festival.

District police chief Ahmed Gebeyehu told state media Fana: “The number of dead has reached 36 and could increase more”, adding “more than 200 people have suffered injuries” and were receiving treatment at a local hospital.

Some people remained under the rubble, local official Atnafu Abate told the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), without giving further details about those trapped or possible rescue efforts.

He said some of the more seriously hurt were taken to hospitals in the capital.

Images shared on the EBC’s official Facebook page showed a mess of collapsed wooden poles, with crowds gathering amid the dense debris.

Other pictures appeared to show the outside of the church where scaffolding had been precariously constructed.

A government statement shared by EBC expressed condolences and added that “safety must be given priority”.

Health and safety regulations are virtually non-existent in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation, and construction accidents are common.

The sprawling country is a mosaic of 80 ethnic groups and has one of the world’s oldest Christian communities.

Its predecessor, the Axumite Empire, declared Christianity the state religion in the fourth century.

Headline

Rescuers Pull Survivor From Indonesia School Collapse As Parents Await

Published

21 hours ago

October 1, 2025

Editor

Rescuers pulled a survivor from the ruins of a collapsed school in Indonesia on Wednesday, as desperate parents demanded that searchers speed up efforts to find dozens more still believed trapped in the rubble.

Part of the multi-storey school on the island of Java gave way suddenly on Monday, as students gathered for afternoon prayers.

On Wednesday, rescuers said they had retrieved a survivor and a fourth body from the ruined building, but gave no details on either.

Based on school records, “91 people are suspected to be buried,” National Disaster and Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement late Tuesday.

Tearful parents milled near the ruins throughout Wednesday, awaiting news of their children.

“We believe our children might still be alive because they were crying for help,” said father Abdul Hanan, whose 14-year-old son is missing. “The rescue operation must be accelerated.”

“We are racing against time now,” the 45-year-old added, bursting into tears.

Nearby, Dewi Sulistiana was awaiting news of her 14-year-old son, with whom she was last in touch on Sunday. The boarding school limits student access to cellphones.

She rushed to the scene from Surabaya, several dozen kilometres (miles) away, after hearing about the collapse.

“I have been here for days. I cried thinking about my son,” she told AFP. “Why is it taking so long to find him? Why is the search so slow? I haven’t had any updates, so I just wait.”

The rescue operation is complex, said Mohammad Syafii, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency.

“If vibration happens in one spot, it could affect other places. So now, to reach the spot where the victims are, we have to dig an underground tunnel,” he told reporters.

Digging itself poses challenges, including possible landslides. And any tunnel will only provide an access route around 60 centimetres (about 23 inches) wide because of the structure’s concrete columns.

Technology, including thermal-sensing drones, is being used to locate survivors and the deceased as the 72-hour “golden period” for best survival chances nears its end.

AFP saw rescuers in orange uniforms appearing to snake cameras under the rubble to hunt for traces of survivors.

So far, signs of life have been detected in seven areas, said Emi Freezer, of the National Search and Rescue Agency.

Water and food were being sent in, but access was through a single point, he said. “The main structure has totally collapsed.”

Complicating the operation, an earthquake struck offshore overnight, briefly halting the search.

Around the ruins, local charitable organisations have set up posts offering families food and drink.

The school collapse was so violent it sent tremors across the neighbourhood, said local resident Ani.

“I felt a vibration, and then I heard a noise. I immediately ran to save myself. I didn’t realise at first it was a building collapse,” the grocery stall owner told AFP.

“Many people then also ran to save themselves,” she added.

Investigations into the cause of the collapse were ongoing, but initial signs point to structural issues and construction that did not meet building standards, experts said.

The building collapsed after its foundation pillars failed to support the weight of new construction on the fourth floor of the school, said the national disaster management agency spokesman.

Lax construction standards have raised widespread concerns about building safety in Indonesia, where it is common to leave structures — particularly houses — partially completed, allowing owners to add extra floors later when their budgets permit.s

Earlier this month, at least three people were killed and dozens were injured when a building hosting a prayer recital collapsed in West Java province.

AFP