Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum was stopped by masked men in Chiapas. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

On Sunday, April 21, Mexican presidential candidate for the in-power National Regeneration Movement (Morena) Claudia Sheinbaum was stopped by hooded men at a checkpoint during her campaign tour in the southern state of Chiapas.

The men, who purportedly belong to the Sinaloa Cartel and carried images of the group’s notorious leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, used the opportunity to request that Sheinbaum remember them if elected into presidential office on June 2nd.

“We just want to tell you to remember the mountains and the poor people when you are in power; we are not against the government, keep that in mind, we are not against you,” the hooded men said during the exchange, which was captured on video and later distributed on social media.

“We don’t want Motozintla to be another disaster like Comalapa,” continued the group. “We want you, when you are president, to do us the favor of cleaning this section because we cannot travel there; if we pass through that section, they tear us into little pieces.”

Sheinbaum remained inside the vehicle throughout the confrontation, only nodding and making eye contact with the supposed cartel members.

However, when asked about the incident after being let through the checkpoint, Sheinbaum said she “did not think” the hooded men belonged to the Sinaloa Cartel as alleged by the surrounding community.

“The Sinaloa Cartel holds the Mazapa checkpoint,” a local resident told Mexican news outlet Aristegui Noticias. “It’s been this way for months. There they monitor who enters and who leaves the area. They check our cell phones, they check our cars, they check everything we put in our bags.”

For his part, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) took to his daily morning press conference on Monday, April 22 to confirm that Sheinbaum “was not at risk” during the checkpoint stop and was properly protected by elements of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena).

Likewise, the federal executive went on to claim that the incident was likely “propaganda because whoever is going to make a statement is neither hooded nor recording.”