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Amid surging violence, some Mexicans choose asylum over voting

在急剧汹涌的暴力中，一些墨西哥人选择避难而不是投票

As millions of Mexicans lined up on Sunday to vote in the country’s largest election in history, others were huddled at the door to the United States, fleeing violence and bereft of hope that a new government could staunch it.

周日，数百万墨西哥民众大排长龙，准备参加该国有史以来规模最大的一次选举。与此同时，其他的人则挤在了通往美国的大门前，想从暴力动乱中逃离。他们已不再寄希望于新政府能阻止暴力行为。

With almost 30,000 homicides registered in 2017, Mexico experienced its bloodiest year on record. Since election campaigning began last September, at least 145 politicians and candidates for office have been killed, according to data from the Mexico-based security consultancy Etellekt.

2017 年，墨西哥经历了史上最血腥的一年，该国发生了近3 万起凶杀案。根据位于墨西哥的安全咨询公司Etellekt 的数据显示，自去年9 月开始的竞选活动以来，至少有145 名政治家和政府要职候选人被杀。

The victims belonged to a variety of political parties. Security experts say drug gangs are using violence to install friendly mayors and other elected officials and scare off would-be reformers who might stall their trade.

受害者来自各个党派。安全专家说，毒品团伙正在使用暴力来任命对他们有利的市长和其他民选官员，吓跑那些可能阻碍他们交易的潜在改革者。

Mexican voters will elect a new president and decide on more than 3,000 down-ballot seats on Sunday. Widespread disenchantment with the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) over intensifying violence have helped leftist frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador maintain a strong lead in opinion polls. He has promised to curtail corruption and take a different approach to Mexico’s militarized fight against drug cartels.

周日，墨西哥选民将选举新总统，并决定3000 多个“下方票”席位（包括联邦和地方议员以及部分地方州长）的票数。面对日益加剧的暴力动乱，民众广泛对执政的革命制度党（PRI）失望透顶。这使得左派的领先者安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥夫拉多尔在民意调查中保持了强有力的领先优势。他承诺遏制腐败，并采取不同的方法来处理墨西哥与贩毒集团的军事化斗争。

But Oscar Misael Hernandez, a researcher at the College of the Northern Frontier, said many Mexicans have given up hope that their government can guarantee their security, which is why some are willing to risk everything on a long-shot asylum claim in the United States.

但北方边境学院的研究员奥斯卡·米萨尔·埃尔南德斯表示，许多墨西哥人已经放弃了希望，不再相信政府能够保证他们的安全，这就是一些人愿意冒一切风险和渺茫的可能性尝试在美国申请庇护的原因。

The violence, he said, “is impacting families, no matter their social class, gender or creed.”

他说，暴力“正在影响着每个家庭，不管他们有着怎样的社会阶级、性别或者信仰”。