Two candidates running for mayor in the Mexican city of Maravatio were gunned down within hours of each other as cartels allegedly targeted them in the run-up to a very tense June election.
“This illustrates the extremely serious level of violence and lack of safety that prevails ahead of the most important elections in Mexican history,” Marko Cortes, leader of the conservative National Action Party, wrote on social media following the deaths.
The ruling party Morena confirmed that authorities found candidate Miguel Angel Zavala shot dead in his car on Monday. National Action Party’s candidate Armando Perez was shot shortly before midnight on the same day.
Morena’s state committee issued a statement declaring Zavala’s murder “a cowardly and reprehensible act.” Zavala had announced his intention to run, but the party had not yet designated him officially as their candidate.
Civic Data, a watchdog group, in January reported that 2023 had proven “the most violent year in our databases,” with suggestions that “2024 will be worse” as gang turf wars continue to escalate. Five people who indicated they might run for office in 2024 were killed in Mexico in January, according to the group’s data.
The increasing effort to try and line up elections on the same day also has led to an increase in violent activity as the importance of the day forces organized crime to make bigger attacks and make bigger statements, Civic Data told The Associated Press.
The cartels killed around three dozen candidates in nationwide elections in 2021. In the new spat of murders, the state of Michoacan has suffered in particular.
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A clash between the residents of a small village in the state and local gang members left 14 people dead and seven injured in December.
“These events do not paralyze us,” Delfina Gomez, Mexico state governor, said of the violence. “On the contrary, they reaffirm our determination to improve security conditions in our beloved state, rest assured that we will continue working so that events like this are not repeated.”
Gunmen also killed the mayor of San Miguel Totolapan, a small town in western Mexico, along with 17 others during a town hall meeting in 2022, the BBC reported. Authorities blamed the attack on the Los Tequileros criminal gang, who in turn allegedly had ties to a powerful drug cartel.
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The gang also reportedly blocked the highways to prevent security forces from responding in time to the attack.
The BBC’s Mexico correspondent described the report at the time as “shocking,” but the violence continues to escalate: The Council on Foreign Relations reported that over 30,000 people have died each year since 2018 due to kidnappings, disappearances and other criminal violence.
Homicides declined significantly in 2022, dropping by around 9.7% to 32,223 killings, but appeared to flatline in the first half of 2023, with 15,122 killings compared to 15,381 in the same period of 2022.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.