The filmmaker behind the surprise summer blockbuster Sound of Freedom has announced his intention to run for the office of president of Mexico.
Actor and producer Eduardo Verástegui has officially registered with the National Electoral Institute (INE) of Mexico to run in Mexico’s 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate.
In a social media post last week, Verástegui said after thinking about it, he had made “the most important decision of my life.”
“It is a fact. It’s time. After a period of discernment, I made the most important decision of my life: I have just registered with the INE my intention as an aspiring independent candidate for the presidency of the Mexican Republic, for the elections on June 2, 2024,” he wrote.
“My fight is for life. My fight is for freedom. It is time to remove the ‘same as always’ from power. Our country needs a new way of doing politics, to eradicate corruption and impunity. We are on time! Let’s go with everything, for our Mexico! #JuntosSomosMasFuertes #VivaMexico,” Verástegui concluded.
Es un hecho. Ya es hora. Después de un período de discernimiento, tomé la decisión más importante de mi vida: acabo de registrar ante el INE mi intención como aspirante a candidato independiente a la presidencia de la República Mexicana, para las elecciones del 2 de junio de… pic.twitter.com/yEUWSJdc2Q
— Eduardo Verástegui (@EVerastegui) September 8, 2023
Verástegui, 49 is the founder of the Viva México Movement. According to the organization’s website, it’s dedicated to “uniting and enhancing the efforts of civil society, and working for a renewed Mexico.”
He has said his campaign’s banner will be “God, Fatherland and Family.” And just like the subject of his recent motion picture, ending child exploitation also weighs on his mind. During an exclusive interview with Newsweek, Verástegui said he wants to use the momentum from his successful film to enter the world of politics because his “goal is to put an end to child trafficking” once and for all.
According to Mexican electoral regulations, he must gather, within 120 days, a number of signatures equivalent to 1% of the list of registered voters in the country distributed over at least 17 states “with an equal percentage in each of them.” This is equivalent to approximately 1 million signatures, The Catholic News Agency reported.
Mexican presidents are limited to a single six-year term, called a sexenio. No one who has held the post, even on a caretaker basis, is allowed to run or serve again.
In a video posted to social media in August, Verástegui urged his fellow countrymen to “build the Mexican dream together.”
“We are one year away from the presidential election. Not only do we have to choose our next president, that day we will choose between two paths, or I would say between a dirt road or a highway,” he said. “The dirt road, the same as always, the one we already know, where every six years we hear the same speeches telling us the same problems and same promises of solutions that don’t work.”
“Let’s dream big,” Verástegui said. “I do dream of a Mexico that allows God to be the center of our nation. I do dream of the day in which no person has to leave the country out of necessity for lack of opportunities. I do dream that one day everyone will be safe in Mexico, where parents do not fear for the lives of their children.”
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As CBN News reported, Verástegui’s movie Sound of Freedom has soared to the No.1 spot in 18 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
In South and Central America, the film sold two million advance tickets in four days – a feat that was accomplished in the U.S. in a week.
“We’re seeing packed theaters, standing ovations, widespread enthusiasm, and strong word-of-mouth from Buenos Aires to Mexico City to Bogota to Caracas, Lima, and beyond,” Angel Studios’ Chief Distribution Officer Jared Geesey told Newsweek.
As CBN News has reported, the movie is based on a true story. It stars Jim Caviezel as federal agent Tim Ballard who had been working in the DHS Child Crimes unit for 12 years but was beginning to lose hope. He rescues a seven-year-old boy who was kidnapped, along with his sister, by brutal traffickers. When the boy asks Tim to find his sister, Tim discovers his life’s mission: rescuing children from sex slavery.
Academy Award-winner Mira Sorvino and Bill Camp also star in the film.
The movie became the surprise hit of the summer in the U.S. becoming the 10th highest-grossing movie of 2023. It made $182 million in domestic box office revenue on a $15 million budget.
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