International

Sheinbaum will be the first president of Mexico after winning the elections with a 30-point lead

The ruling Claudia Sheinbaum will be the first woman president of Mexico after obtaining between 58.3% and 60.7% of the votes in this Sunday’s elections, according to the quick count of the National Electoral Institute (INE), against a range of between 26.6% and 28.6% of her main rival, the opposition Xóchitl Gálvez.

Meanwhile, the candidate of the opposition Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), Jorge Álvarez Máynez, would receive between 9.9% and 10.8% of the votes, according to the president of the INE, Guadalupe Taddei, in a message on the national network.

The quick count of the INE is the first formal scrutiny of the autonomous body, which is based “on a representative statistical sample” of 5,651 voting centers with a confidence level of “at least 95%,” which allows “a robust projection” of who will win.

“I want to emphasize that these results are preliminary as well as those that are being disseminated through the Preliminary Electoral Results Program (PREP) and are subject to confirmation of the district calculations that will begin next Wednesday, June 5,” clarified the head of the INE.

In the absence of that confirmation, Claudia Sheinbaum thanked this Monday because “she will become the first female president of Mexico,” and projected a result that allows her to have the necessary majority to reform the Constitution in Congress.

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And it is that Sheinbaum not only received the keys to the National Palace, but his coalition of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), the Labor Party (PT) and the Green Ecologist of Mexico (PVEM), won a two-thirds majority of the Chamber of Deputies and, possibly, the Senate.

“I want to thank millions of Mexicans who decided to vote for us on this historic day to move forward with the fourth transformation of public life in our country,” he said in his first public statements after learning about the results advanced by the INE.

“Above all, it is the recognition of the people of Mexico for our transformation project. I am also grateful because, for the first time in 200 years of the republic, I will become the first female president of Mexico,” said Sheinbaum.

Tens of thousands of supporters gathered in the Zocalo of Mexico City, the largest public square in the country, to celebrate the triumph of Sheinbaum, a celebration that the still president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has also joined.

The opposition presidential candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, recognized on Monday the victory of the ruling Claudia Sheinbaum, although she said that she will demand results and solutions to the country’s great problems.

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“I want to emphasize that my recognition is accompanied by a firm demand for results and solutions to the great problems of the country and the indispensable respect for the constitution and democratic institutions,” said the representative of the Force and Heart Coalition for Mexico.

In her first message after the National Electoral Institute (INE) announced the results of the quick count, the former senator said that she recognized the result for her love for Mexico.

On the other hand, the ruling Clara Brugada would also win the head of the Government of Mexico City, by registering between 49% and 52.8% of the votes in the quick count of the Electoral Institute of the Mexican capital (IECDMX).

Brugada, of the coalition of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), with the Labor Parties (PT), and the Green Ecologist of Mexico (PVEM), relegated to second place the opponent Santiago Taboada, who would add between 37.2 and 40.5%, according to the official estimate of the institute.

Meanwhile, the candidate of the also opposition Citizen Movement (MC), Salomón Chertorivski, reached between 6.9% and 9.7% of the votes.

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Mexico held this Sunday the largest election in its history with more than 98 million people called to renew more than 20,000 positions, including the presidency, the 500 deputies, the 128 senators and nine state governments.

The electoral campaign for these elections has also been the most violent in the history of Mexico, with at least 30 candidates killed.

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.