Two mayoral candidates have been shot dead in less than 24 hours in Mexico – marking the seventh political assassination ahead of June’s general election.
Diego Pérez, who was running for office in the southern state of Chiapas, was found dead on Thursday.
His body showed signs of torture and was left next to his wife and son, who were both injured.
Pérez was the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party for mayor of San Juan Cancuc.
“We strongly urge the authorities to clarify these facts and punish those responsible,” the Institutional Revolutionary Party said in a statement.
‘The government cannot continue to deny reality: more than 110 acts of violence related to the electoral process require measures to be taken to guarantee everyone’s safety and prevent organized crime from being the one to vote on June 2, and not good citizens. ‘
Tomás Morales, who aspired to become mayor of Chilapa, a municipality in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, was executed on Wednesday night.
Diego Pérez, who was running for office in the southern state of Chiapas, was found dead on Thursday. His wife and son were injured
Tomás Morales, aspiring to become mayor of Chilapa, a municipality in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, was shot dead in front of his home on Wednesday night
Authorities said the 40-year-old was approached by a gunman when he got out of his car and was shot in the head in front of his home. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Morales served as a councilor in the neighboring town of José Joaquín de Herrera from 2009 to 2012.
His wife, Delia Solano, was a councilor in Chilapa from 2018 to 2021.
He had worked for a social government program and resigned in January to pursue his mayoral aspirations under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s ruling Morena party, although the political bloc had not formally named him as its official candidate.
Alfredo González, a mayoral candidate in the city of Atoyac, Guerrero, was shot dead on March 2
Miguel Ángel Zavala, who was from the ruling Morena party President Andrés Manuel López Obradorwas shot dead on February 26.
Armando Pérez, the candidate of the National Action Party, was found shot dead on February 27
Miguel Angel Zavala, of the Morena party, was found dead in Maravatio, Mexico on February 26
Armando Pérez, of the conservative National Action Party, was assassinated on 27 February. A third mayoral hopeful from that city was abducted and found dead in November.
Yair Romero, who was running for Congress for the Morena party in the sprawling Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec, was fatally shot in the street along with his brother on February 10. He had allegedly received threats from a local union.
On January 5, David González, the local leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and candidate for mayor of Suchiate, Chiapas, was killed.
The same day, in the northwestern state of Colima, Sergio Hueso, a mayoral candidate from the Citizen Movement party in Armeria, was shot by gunmen while in his vehicle.
Mexico’s drug cartels have often focused assassination attempts on mayors and mayoral candidates in an attempt to control local police or extort money from municipal authorities.
Yair Romero had hopes of becoming a member of Mexico’s Congress and was found shot next to his brother on February 10 in the Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec
David González, the local leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and candidate for mayor of Suchiate, Chiapas, was killed on January 5
Watchdog group Civic Data said in a January report on political violence that ‘2023 was the most violent year in our database. And everything indicates that 2024 will be worse.’
Mayoral, state and federal elections are increasingly synchronized on one election day.
“It is likely that the biggest election in history will also suffer the biggest attacks from organized crime,” Civic Data said.
Michoacán had the fifth-highest number of attacks on politicians and officials in 2023, behind Guerrero and Guanajuato. Zacatecas and Veracruz also had a higher number of attacks.