International

Mexican opposition bloc asks to “abstain” from declaring a winner before the official count

The campaign coordinator of the opposition Xóchitl Gálvez and member of the National Action Party (PAN), Santiago Creel, asked the media to “refrain” from declaring a winner of the Mexican elections before the official count of the National Electoral Institute (INE).

“The parties that make up the Force and Heart for Mexico coalition make an attentive and respectful appeal to the mass media to refrain from being the winner of this contest,” Creel demanded at a press conference.

In a hotel in the Mexican capital, the center of operations of Gálvez’s candidacy, he asked to wait for the INE to offer the quick count around 10:30 p.m. local time (04:30 GMT).

Even so, he stressed that in the internal data of the alliance between the PAN, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution (PRD), his “winning trend” is observed in “several” of the states that renew their state government, such as Guanajuato (center) or Mexico City.

“In our measurements, we have numbers that confirm that our candidate and candidates are victorious,” said the president of the PAN, Marko Cortés, who reiterated his request for prudence to the media that have published projections that predict the triumph of the ruling candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum.

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In addition, he stressed the perception that the citizen participation provided by his information registers “high percentages”, something that “is not weighing” either.

On the other hand, the leader of the PRD, Jesús Zambrano, again asked the “representatives of booths (voting centers) throughout the country” to stay in their positions, because “the most difficult hours are coming” of the day.

“Anything can happen to distort the electoral result, to disappear minutes or even to supplant electoral packages,” he warned.

The PRI president, Alejandro Moreno, who emphasized the alleged opposition victory in six of the nine states at stake in this contest, maintained a “respectful, but firm” tone before the journalists gathered in the room.

“We are less than two hours away from the counts and the clear information announced by the electoral referee. (…) In the measurements of the counts we have we are consolidated,” he said.

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Earlier, the opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez said this Sunday that she “has already won,” but asked to “count until the last vote” of the elections, because she is “competing against authoritarianism and power and they are capable of everything.”

“I had told them for months that we were going to win these elections despite all the trap, all the lies, despite all the abuse of power and their millions of deviated pesos,” said the candidate of the Fuerza y Corazón coalition for Mexico in the Mexican capital.

Gálvez said she was the winner “for the very high citizen participation, of more than 80% of many boxes (voting centers), for the energy and enthusiasm of the people,” after the closure of the voting centers at 18:00 local time (00:00 GMT), although the National Electoral Institute (INE) still does not offer official results.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.