MEXICO CITY (OSV News) ─ Actor
and Catholic activist Eduardo Verástegui will not participate in Mexico's 2024
presidential election after failing to collect the necessary signatures to run
as an independent candidate.
Verástegui announced plans in September to run as an independent in Mexico's
presidential election and registered with the National Electoral Institute,
which oversees elections. But he had collected less than 15% of the needed
961,405 signatures -- equal to 1% of the voters' list -- prior to the Jan. 6
deadline.
In a series of social media posts, Verástegui blamed the electoral institute,
also known as INE, alleging faults with an application for collecting
signatures, which failed to function. He also petitioned unsuccessfully for
extra time to collect signatures in the southern state of Guerrero due to the
devastation of Hurricane Otis in October, which left Acapulco without basic
infrastructure and electricity for weeks.
"I have decided to raise my voice because, regrettably, the handling of
the INE of its application has undermined the integrity of our democratic
process," Verástegui said in a Jan. 6 statement. "I am making this
urgent call to the competent authorities and to society as a whole to
thoroughly investigate this situation, which should never have taken
place."
A source familiar with the Verástegui campaign confirmed his frustrations with
the application, saying, "It had many flaws."
But the source described Verástegui to OSV News as
"his own worst enemy," who put little effort into campaigning.
"His strategy now is to blame the INE."
The source, who requested anonymity to speak freely on the subject, said
Verástegui spent much of the signature-collection period outside of Mexico --
at his residence in Miami and traveling as far as Argentina in December for the
inauguration of President Javier Milei. The source added that Verástegui only
spent 20 days over the four-month period in Mexico City, visited half of
Mexico's 32 states and often arrived late at campaign events or didn't appear
at all.
"The candidate didn't exist," the source said of the campaign.
"The problem is the (low) number of signatures. There were so few
(signatures) that he doesn't have the authority to complain about absolutely
anything."
In his statement, however, Verástegui said: "I have dedicated
tireless efforts to represent all the voices and needs of our nation. … My
commitment has been total: I have invested time, dedication and financial
resources in this cause."
In his social media statements, Verástegui compared himself to President Andrés
Manuel López Obrador, who made claims of fraud after losing the 2006
presidential election.
After the 2006 elections, López Obrador had approached the
electoral commission to seek a recount of the votes as his party provided
evidence of alleged fraud and dirty campaign practices. His request was
rejected as the electoral body declined to order a recount. Two terms later, in
2018, he did win the general election and, after a six-year term, will leave
office Sept. 30 as Mexico's constitution prohibits presidential reelection.
Verástegui, 49, gained notoriety in Mexico for a singing career and appearing
in TV series known as telenovelas. He later became known in the U.S. for his
Catholic piety and activism on issues such as abortion and human trafficking.
He produced the 2023 film "Sound of Freedom," which drew acclaim and
large audiences.
He spoke often of pursuing the presidency in Mexico, which holds federal
elections June 2. Verástegui promised to run on a platform of fighting
abortion, supporting pro-family policies and opposing U.N. development goals,
such as climate action.
The day after Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in September 2023, Verástegui registered as an independent candidate.
"Mourning is a reminder for me to recall why I'm doing
this," he told supporters.
He attracted attention in various ways such as posting a video on social media
of him shooting an assault weapon at a target to show "what we're going to
do to the terrorists of the 2030 agenda, climate change and gender
ideology," while analysts said the issue attracted more attention in U.S.
politics than Mexico's public discourse.
Attempts to reach Verástegui for comment were unsuccessful.
Analysts described Verástegui's pursuit of the presidency as unrealistic in a
country where independent candidacies are complicated -- only being allowed for
the first time in 2015 -- and politicians seldom campaign on hot-button social
issues.
Jeffery Weldon, political science professor at the Autonomous Technological
Institute of Mexico and an expert on Mexican election law, said the rules on
independent candidacies favor political parties, while putting upstart
candidates at a disadvantage due to a lack of resources such as moneys and
access to radio and TV time reserved for political and campaign purposes.
The application, he said, contains safeguards to prevent the same people
signing for multiple candidates and registering support from persons without
their consent. The paucity of signatures, however, made complaints over the
application moot, Weldon said.
"He's so far away from the (threshold) it shows he wasn't putting any
effort into (it)," Weldon told OSV News.
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David Agren writes for OSV News from
Mexico City.
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