A mayor in Mexico’s central state of San Luis Potosi, who was a member of the ruling Morena party, was shot dead along with three other people on Sunday, local authorities said, while a prominent vineyard owner was killed in another central region.
According to prosecutors, Jesus Eduardo Franco, mayor of the municipality of Tancanhuitz, and the three other victims were all found dead in a vehicle.
“We deeply regret the death of our colleague Eduardo Franco, municipal president of Tancanhuitz,” Morena party chair Rita Rodriguez wrote on social media.
“We ask the authorities to face the final consequences and find those responsible,” she added.
Politicians, especially at the local level, are common become victims of bloodshed linked to corruption and the multi-billion dollar drug trade. Earlier this month, so did a Mexican congressman who was a member of the ruling coalition shot dead in the coastal state of Veracruz.
There was a mayor in October murdered and beheaded in the southern state of Guerrero. The following month there was a former prosecutor and a local police officer arrested in connection with the gruesome murder.
Wine entrepreneur murdered in central Mexico
Meanwhile, a prominent vineyard owner was murdered in Mexico Guanajuato Statea central region plagued by violence linked to organized crime, authorities said on Sunday.
Ricardo Vega was the owner of the Cuna de Tierra vineyard in the town of Dolores Hidalgo.
“I deeply regret and condemn the cowardly murder of Ricardo Vega,” wrote Mauricio Trejo, mayor of the nearby city of San Miguel de Allende, on social network X. “There is uncertainty in Guanajuato.”
Colonial-era San Miguel de Allende is part of an area rich in arts and cultural festivals, where it is frequented by American tourists.
The Mexican Wine Council, an organization of the country’s vintners, expressed sadness over Vega’s death, describing him as a “visionary leader and tireless defender of Mexican wine.”
Local newspaper AM reported that Vega was attacked by armed men on Saturday while driving his truck through the area. It says the murder is under investigation.
More than 450,000 people have been killed and thousands missing since the Mexican government deployed the military to combat drug trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.
