New Faces, New Targets
Listen to Today's Edition:
The mayor of the capital of Mexico’s violence-plagued state of Guerrero was killed over the weekend less than a week after he took office, one of almost three dozen murders of politicians in the past six months, CNN reported.
Alejandro Arcos Catalán, 43, was found dead on Oct. 6, five days after taking office in the city of Chilpancingo. Local media reported that he had been decapitated, with his head left on his car, a claim that was not confirmed.
His murder followed that of Chilpancingo’s general secretary, Francisco Tapia, who was killed a few days before.
Chilpancingo has been at the center of rival cartels trying to infiltrate and control the local economy. The cartels favor candidates willing to make deals and grant them immunity for their crimes. Arcos had said he was not so inclined.
Even so, criminal gangs often finance campaigns during election season, intimidating candidates and violently intervening to compel politicians to cooperate with them, CNN wrote.
Arcos was elected representing an opposition coalition that included the Institutional Revolutionary Party, CBS News reported. The party denounced his killing on the social media platform X, writing “Enough of violence and impunity! The people of Guerrero do not deserve to live in fear.”
However, the killing was just the latest targeting politicians both in the run-up to the June 2 election and since, an election deemed the largest – but also the bloodiest – in Mexican history.
During the campaign season, at least 34 political candidates were assassinated by crime gangs. Meanwhile, hours after the election results were announced on June 3, Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, mayor of Cotija in Michoacán state, was also murdered.
Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s new president who was inaugurated on Oct. 1, called the incident “unfortunate” and said that she would soon unveil the details of her cabinet’s plan to address national security and cartel violence in the coming days.
Subscribe today and GlobalPost will be in your inbox the next weekday morning
Join us today and pay only $32.95 for an annual subscription, or less than $3 a month for our unique insights into crucial developments on the world stage. It’s by far the best investment you can make to expand your knowledge of the world.