墨西哥大选将至，贩毒集团警告候选人：要么放手，要么死掉 [美国媒体]

A fresh wave of violence is sweeping through Mexico as the country prepares to choose its new president on July 1.

墨西哥即将在7月1日决定新的总统，随着选战到来，新一轮的暴力也正横扫全国。

Powerful drug cartels are battling for influence and have been targeting politicians they think might get in their way. According to an investigation by Reuters, at least 82 candidates and officeholders have already been killed since the electoral season began in September 2017.

强大的墨西哥毒品集团在争取政坛影响力上不遗余力，他们盯上的目标是此次选战中可能成为他们阻碍的政治人物。据路透社调查，自2017年9月选举季开始以来，已经有82位候选人和在职官员被谋杀。

Those killed come from across the political spectrum, and most were running for local positions rather than high-profile national posts. Drug lords are hoping to install lawmakers they know and trust to ensure that their lucrative trade is allowed to continue.

被杀的政治人物来自各种不同的政治光谱。大部分都是在地方选举时被杀，而不是全国选战。毒枭希望确保当选的都是他们熟悉信任的人选，不要妨碍他们的暴力产业运营。

At least four politicians have been killed in the past week alone, as candidates vie for around 3,400 positions; a record number. If cartels can get their allies into office, local government offers a source of well-paid contracts and bribes. Local police forces can even be forced into working for and protecting the cartels.

在争夺3400个职位的政治人物中，仅仅上一周，就有四人被杀。这是创纪录的数字。如果毒品集团能够把他们的盟友送上权力宝座，相关的人会得到极为可观的合同和贿款。而地方警察甚至必须要为保护贩毒集团而工作。

Magda Rubio, a mayoral candidate in the small city of Guachochi in northern Mexico, told Reuters she has received four death threats from the same person since January. Though she said the man warned her to “Drop out or be killed,” Rubio has remained in the race, now accompanied by two armed bodyguards 24/7.

玛格达·卢比奥，墨西哥北部小镇夸克齐的镇长候选人，告诉路透社她自一月以来已经从同一个人处收到了四封死亡威胁信。尽管此人警告她“要么放手，要么死”，卢比奥并未放弃选举。现在她身边有两名保镖提供24小时保护。

A lawyer and human rights activist, Rubio said she has suffered panic attacks since the threats began, but refuses to withdraw from the contest. She is running as an independent and calling on central government to give more support to the impoverished Raramuri indigenous people that live in the region. “I’m here because I want a change in my country,” she said.

作为律师和人权斗士，卢比奥称自收到威胁以来，她已经饱受恐慌困扰，但她拒绝退出选举。她是作为无党派人士参选的，诉求是要政府更多地帮助当地的原住民拉拉穆里人摆脱贫困。“我希望改变我的国家”，她说。

Mexico has been blighted by drug violence for many years. The country is a vital, and lucrative, route for recreational drugs smuggled into the U.S. After the demise of Colombia’s cartels in the 1990s, Mexico became the new epicenter of drug smuggling. By 2007, Mexico had become the route for 90 percent of all cocaine trafficked into the U.S.

墨西哥多年来饱受毒品相关暴力困扰，社会凋敝。这个国家是娱乐性毒品走私进入美国的关键通道，也是暴利的来源。1990年代哥伦比亚贩毒集团崩解之后，墨西哥成为了毒品走私的新天堂。至2007年，墨西哥已经是90%进入美国的可卡因的来源地。

Mexico’s war on drugs, backed by the U.S., escalated in 2006 as the country's military was deployed to help the government fight the cartels. However, so far the operation has only appears to have made the situation worse.

在美国的支持下，墨西哥的禁毒战争在2006年升级。美国出动军力，帮助墨西哥政府打击贩毒集团。然而，至今为止，这些打击行动只是让情况变得更糟。

Though several influential drug lords were captured or killed—including Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the boss of the Sinaloa Cartel, who is currently awaiting trial in New York—the clampdown splintered the large cartels into smaller competing gangs. These groups have tried to take advantage of the power vacuum, using extreme violence to carve out territory.

尽管数个影响力巨大的毒枭已经被抓获、击毙（包括“矮子”华金·古兹曼，锡纳罗亚贩毒集团毒枭，目前在纽约等候判刑），巨大的贩毒集团被打散的后果是贩毒势力分化成相互竞争的小集团。这些小集团面对上一个庞然大物倒下后形成的权力真空都蠢蠢欲动，不惜使用极端暴力来争夺地盘。

The tentacles of the cartels reach deep into Mexican society, and government is not immune. There have long been accusations that politicians are in the pockets of the cartels, either for financial gain or simply to ensure their own safety. Such accusations rarely result in investigations or criminal prosecutions. A November 2017 Texas court case, for example, detailed how police and officials in Coahuila state allowed the brutal Los Zetas cartel to continue murdering hundreds of its enemies in exchange for millions in bribes.

这些贩毒集团的触角已经深入墨西哥社会，墨西哥政府当然不能幸免。一直以来，墨西哥政客都被指责为贩毒集团的傀儡，要么是为了赚钱，要么是为了自保。但很少有针对这些指责的调查或犯罪指控。2017年11月，德克萨斯州法庭就在一次审判中深入揭露了墨西哥科阿韦拉州收受了数百万的贿款后，纵容当地残暴的“塞塔”贩毒集团陆续杀害数百反对者的行径。

In 2017, almost 29,000 people were killed in Mexico, marking the highest total since records began 20 years ago. The violence is a major concern for voters, and the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party—led by President Enrique Peña Nieto—is expected to lose the coming election. Nieto cannot stand for a second term as per the country’s constitution, and the party’s replacement, José Antonio Meade, is polling poorly.

2017年， 墨西哥一共有29000人被杀。这是20年以来的最高点。暴力是选民的痛点。现在的执政党，总统恩里克·培尼亚·涅托领导下的体制革命党（Institutional Revolutionary Party）很可能会败选。按照墨西哥宪法，涅托无法连任，而党内候选领导人乔瑟·安东尼奥·米德的支持率堪忧。

The U.S. Department of State has advised against travel to the states of Sinaloa, Michoacan, Colima, Guerrero and Tamaulipas, branding them with “do not travel” status, the same warning given to Syria.

美国国务院最近颁发了针对锡纳罗亚州、米却肯州、科利马州、奇瓦瓦州和塔毛利帕斯州的旅游警告，级别为最高的“旅游禁止”，和叙利亚一样。