Mexico’s drug cartels and gangs appear to be playing a wider role in Sunday’s elections than before

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ and ARMANDO SOLÍS
Associated Press

COTIJA, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s drug cartels and gangs appear to be playing a wider role in Sunday’s elections that will determine the presidency, nine governorships and about 19,000 mayorships and other local posts. The country’s powerful drug cartels have long staged targeted assassinations of mayoral and other local candidates who threaten their control. Gangs in Mexico depend on controlling local police chiefs and taking a share of municipal budgets; national politics appear to interest them less. But in the runup to Sunday’s vote, gangs have increasingly taken to spraying whole campaign rallies with gunfire, burning ballots or preventing the setting up of polling stations — even putting up banners seeking to influence voters.