TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Attacks on political candidates in Mexico’s violence-torn southern state of Chiapas have killed at least 14 people in recent days, local authorities and candidates said Sunday.
The latest attack early Sunday targeted the car driven by Nicolás Noriega, who is on the run from leading the municipal council of the city of Mapastepec. Noriega confirmed the attack to The Associated Press, saying he was injured and at least five people from his campaign were fatally shot.
Morena, who was under the country’s ruling party, did not add more details and was noticeably shaken after the attack. The Chiapas Public Prosecutor’s Office also confirmed that five attacks had been carried out. Photos shared by local media showed a red truck riddled with bullet holes and bloodied bodies lying in the trunk and on the ground.
“I deeply mourn the death of my friends, whose lives were taken in a cowardly way. Evil will never prevail in our hearts, because there are more of us who love life, who remember to do good ” Noriega wrote on Facebook. Sunday. “I ask all of society to unite to honor life.”
Chiapas has recently been embroiled in bloodshed as Mexico’s two main cartels have battled for control of the neighboring border with Guatemala and an increasingly lucrative route for migrant and drug smuggling. Ahead of the June 2 elections, violence has increased in Mexico as armed groups stage territorial power grabs, pick candidates and terrorize civilians.
At least 134 people have been killed in politically motivated attacks this year, 24 of whom were political candidates, according to Data Civica.
On Thursday, a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in a small town about 75 miles (125 kilometers) from the Guatemalan border, killing six people, including a young girl and mayoral candidate Lucero López Maza. Two others were injured, officials said.
On Saturday, the Chiapas Public Prosecutor’s Office also confirmed an attack on another Morena candidate, Robertony Orozco, who was running for mayor of the city of Villa Corzo. He was attacked while driving on a highway near the city, killing three and wounding two, including Orozco. Prosecutors said they were investigating the attack and had provided Orozco with security.
That shooting took place near Chicomuselo, where eleven civilians were killed on May 13. It is also the same area where Morena’s presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum was intercepted by masked men in April while touring the border with Guatemala.
Due to its strategic location, Chiapas is one of three Mexican states with the highest level of electoral violence, with 55 victims so far, according to Mexican consultancy Integralia. It follows only Guerrero and Michoacán, two states at the heart of the Mexican cartel war.
The wave of violence in Chiapas proved embarrassing for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador when he visited the border state on Friday to meet with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo. López Obrador.
Obrador has refused to confront the drug cartels and has largely minimized the problem of violence.
“There are people who insist that Chiapas is on fire. No, as I explained, the problem is in this region and we are going to solve it,” Obrador said Friday during a news briefing in Tapachula, Chiapas.
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This story has been corrected to show the attack occurred early Sunday.
