Mérida prepares for its closeup during the presidential debate
The third and final presidential debate on June 12 will put Mérida in the national spotlight, and officials are already making sure the White City looks good.
The event centers on the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya and the neighboring Siglo XXI Convention Center, confirmed Fernando Balmes Pérez of National Electoral Institute (INE).
A technical commission this week will visit Mérida to assess the sites for security and logistical issues.
The presidential candidates will face off in the museum’s Sala Mayamax, an auditorium that holds 400 people. Additional space will be assigned for guests and the candidates’ staff. Up to 50 people from each party are entitled to be accommodated.
Because of the theater’s limited capacity, space will be provided in the lower area of the museum as well as in the convention center. Operational teams and support staff will set up in a parking lot.
Local, national and international media will require credentials to access the debate, just as in Mexico City and Tijuana during the previous two debates.
For the final debate, at 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, the topic will be the economy.
The general elections, which will also decide Mérida’s mayor and Yucatán’s governor, is July 1.
Televisa will broadcast the debate live on its Las Estrellas channel, its Televisa News Web Page, Facebook and YouTube. In the U.S., Noticias Telemundo will also broadcast the debate.