Besides the
killing of political candidates and journalists (as reported by MSN News on 15 June 2018), a series of brutal incidents against church leaders and other Christians have been reported as Mexico prepares for elections on 1 July 2018. La Jornada reported on 9 June 2018 that the president of the New Evangelism organization had been
shot dead using a weapon normally only used by the Mexican armed forces. According to a report by Sipse on 11 June 2018, a 64-year-old man and his grandson were
shot dead as they left church in Guanajuato. The motive for the killing is unknown. A month earlier, Arƒstegui News reported on 14 May 2018 that a Roman Catholic priest in Chiapas has been receiving
death-threats from the mayoral candidate of Simojovel town. The priest is an active opponent of drug trafficking and accused the candidate of heading a local criminal group. And according to a report by Infobae on 21 May 2018, a group of armed men burst into the New Life church in Tabasco during a service and
demanded money from the congregation.
Rossana Ramirez, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "It is good that a press release was published on 13 June 2016 by the European Union, Norway and Switzerland
urging the Mexican authorities to step up investigations into the murders and acts of political intimidation occurring. In this context of increasing levels of violence, any citizens - especially Christians - daring to denounce illegal activities going on between criminal groups and corrupt authorities are subject to reprisals and have no one to turn to. Attacks against Christians are happening so often that they are becoming "˜normal" and are not receiving proper attention."
Rossana Ramirez adds: "A further problem for Christians can be seen in recent publications by the Attorney General's Office and the Special Prosecutor for Electoral Crimes. These encourage the general population to
denounce any religious leader attempting to influence the vote for or against a certain candidate. This means that church leaders can be taken to court for expressing their views on democracy and Christian values, even if they are not trying to sway anyone"s vote one way or the other."
