Oaxaca: Humberto Santos Removed from Election Race over Gender Violence

On March 17th, the president of the State Executive Committee of MORENA in Oaxaca, Sesul Bolaños, reported the decision to withdraw Humberto Santos Ramirez from the election process for a local deputy following accusations against him for having created a chat in WhatsApp where “pornography and images of Mixe women were shared.”

The affected women reported that in this chat, photographs of indigenous women were shared, downloaded from their profiles on social networks and used to commit acts of misogyny and discrimination. For this reason, a hundred organizations, groups and women also demanded that the leadership of the National Regeneration Movement Party (MORENA) prevent the participation of Humberto Santos Ramirez in the electoral process.

Faced with these accusations, the politician said that “there are no victims” and that it is a “smear campaign” when he leads in the results of the internal survey of his party. However, in the investigation opened by the Oaxaca State Attorney General’s Office (FGEO), he was directly accused for the creation of this chat. In addition, other officials of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) were also dismissed for their participation in this same chat, including Rolando Vasquez, who was Humberto Santos’ pre-campaign advisor.

The National Coordinator of Indigenous Women (CONAMI) also demanded the cancellation of the candidacy and urged the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office to “expedite the investigation on the chat and take criminal action against the participants” as well as implementing a zero tolerance policy towards acts of gender violence of any political party within the 2021 electoral process.

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado Conami (Conami, 15 de marzo de 2021)

Exigen a Morena impedir candidatura de Beto Santos; exhibía a mujeres mixes en chat (Educa Oaxaca, 16 de marzo de 2021)

Retira Morena al precandidato que creó chat misógino en Oaxaca (Educa Oaxaca, 17 de marzo de 2021)

Morena retira registro a precandidato de Oaxaca señalado por acoso (Milenio, 16 de marzo de 2021)

Precandidato de Morena en Oaxaca niega haber creado grupo de WhatsApp para compartir nudes de mixes (Grupo Fórmula, 16 de marzo de 2021)

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