A mayor has been found murdered in southern Mexico, local authorities announced Saturday, less than a week after another politician was killed in the same region plagued by cartel violence.
The killing of Acacio Flores, who represents Malinaltepec, comes days after the murder murder of Salvador Villalba Floresanother mayor from the state of Guerrero was elected in the June 2 elections.
Prosecutors in Guerrero said in a statement that Flores’ death was ruled a homicide and that officers from the Ministerial Investigative Police were investigating the case.
Flores’ body was discovered with a gunshot wound to the back of the head in the back of a van in Malinaltepec, a human rights activist told AFP.
The rights activist had been involved in negotiations to release the politician after he was detained in an indigenous village on Thursday. The mayor, who is a member of the Solidarity Encounter Party (PES), was attacked and kidnapped while traveling to Alacatlazala, local media reported.
The Guerrero prosecutor said an investigation into aggravated murder had been opened, with a possible dispute over land ownership part of the probe. In a statement on social media, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda said she strongly condemned the killing and vowed that authorities would “identify, locate and bring to justice those responsible.”
In the days leading up to his death, Flores had said on social media that he was “getting results” and “making a mark on the most remote villages of the municipality” through construction projects.
Since the Mexican campaign season began last September, about 30 political candidates have been assassinated, according to Data Civica, a non-governmental organization.
The Mexican general election on June 2 featured left-wing Claudia Sheinbaum chosen with an overwhelming majority as the first female president of the country.
Two female politicians have been murdered since the elections. Earlier this month, a local councilor was shot as she left her home in Guerrero. Her murder came a few days after the mayor of a city in western Mexico and her bodyguard were murdered killed outside a gymjust hours after Sheinbaum won the presidency.
Guerrero, one of the states hardest hit by drug cartel violence given its location along Mexico’s Pacific coast, recorded 1,890 homicides in 2023. It is one of six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to avoid entirely, citing crime and violence.
