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‘Sound of Freedom’ producer Eduardo Verástegui announces bid to be next president of Mexico – LifeSite

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(LifeSiteNews) — Eduardo Verástegui — a devout Catholic renowned worldwide as a pro-life and human rights leader, movie star, and producer — has officially declared his candidacy to become the next president of Mexico. 

Verástegui, the producer and driving force behind this summer’s blockbuster hit Sound of Freedom, a movie that has brought the issue of child sex trafficking to the attention of the western world, announced his registration to run as an independent candidate on social media Thursday night. 

“It is a fact. It’s time. After a period of discernment, I made the most important decision of my life,” wrote Verástegui in an X post. “I have just registered with the INE [Instituto Nacional Electoral] my intention as an aspiring independent candidate for the presidency of the Mexican Republic, for the elections on June 2, 2024.”  

“My fight is for life. My fight is for freedom,” he declared.   

“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!”

“The political class have not only destroyed the economy, the environment, and jobs, they also want to destroy the institution of the family, destroy our values, and pervert your children,” said Verástegui in an earlier video. “Now they want to destroy our faith, pulling God out of our homes, of our schools, and our lives.” 

“Let’s build the Mexican dream together,” he urged. “Let’s dream big. I dream of a Mexico that allows God to be the center of our nation.”  

Verástegui, 49, was born in Xicoténcatl, Mexico, and raised in a devout Catholic home. After a short stint in law school, he moved to Mexico City to pursue a career in the arts. He began as a model, was recruited as a singer for a successful boy band, and then became a major television star. His biggest dream, however, was to become a Hollywood actor. A chance meeting with a casting manager for 20th Century Fox studios led to a role as a Spanish-speaker in a Hollywood film and to his move to Los Angeles, where he began to learn English.  

Verástegui had long since abandoned the practice of his faith, but his English teacher gently but persistently encouraged him to come back. In a 2009 interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Verástegui described how his teacher asked him searching questions about his faith, his career, how he was using his talents, and what he would do to combat Hollywood stereotypes about Latinos:  

I tried to avoid answering them, but for six months she patiently and lovingly persisted and eventually she asked me directly, ‘Do you really love God, Eduardo? Then why do you offend him in the way you live your life?’ After this, I broke down, and I cried like a baby for hours. I went to confession, and I promised God that I would commit my life to him and I would never again accept roles which would compromise my Catholic faith or offend my family or my Latino culture. 

Determined on this course, Verástegui began his own film production company, Metanoia Films. Its first film, a story about a cook who asks a pregnant colleague not to have an abortion, was called Bella, which won the People’s Choice Awards at the Toronto Film Festival in 2006. It also won a Smithsonian Latino Center award for its positive contribution to the culture. Best of all, it saved the lives of hundreds of unborn children. 

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