Eduardo Verástegui, lead producer of the hit summer film Sound of Freedom, has filed paperwork to run as an independent candidate for Mexico’s 2024 presidential race.
The 49-year-old Mexican actor and singer was a soap opera star for several years, and more recently has become a well-known Christian and conservative activist. Verástegui also played the character “Paul” in Sound of Freedom, which is based on the life of former Homeland Security special agent Tim Ballard, who also set up Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), an anti-child-trafficking organization.
“It is a fact. It is time,” Verástegui wrote in a post on his Instagram account Friday, where he has over 896,000 followers. “After a period of discernment, I made the most important decision of my life: I have just registered with the [National Electoral Institute] my intention as an aspiring independent candidate for the presidency of the Mexican Republic, for the elections on June 2, 2024.”
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“My fight is for life,” he continued. “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.”
Sound of Freedom has broken box office records in the United States and beyond. As of Thursday, the film had made over $182 million at the box, despite starting with a modest budget of $15 million.
The hit film also received a wave of praise from conservative leaders like former President Donald Trump and has been accused of being a vehicle for QAnon conspiracy theories. The lead actor of the movie, Jim Caviezel, previously denounced that there was any link between the film and the far-right online conspiracy movement.
Polling conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies also found that the Christian-backed film was popular among Democratic voters, with 59 percent indicating that they had a “favorable” or “very favorable” opinion of Sound of Freedom.
Newsweek reached out to Verástegui’s Facebook account for comment on Friday.
Verástegui’s independent run for Mexico’s presidency is likely an uphill battle, as both major political parties have already selected their candidates for June—former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and Mexico Senator Xóchitl Gálvez. The country is also on track to make history, as this marks the first time that two women from its main political movements are competing for the presidency.
However, according to a report from the Associated Press (AP), the path to electing a female president is likely not going to be easy in Mexico. The gubernatorial election in the state of Mexico in June between two women candidates had the lowest voter turnout in history, Gloria Alocer Olmos, director of the electoral magazine Voice and Vote, told AP.
Mexico’s Citizens’ Movement party, which controls the states of Nuevo Leon and Jalisco, could also nominate a male candidate before the next election, which Alocer Olmos said, risks attracting the “macho vote.”