Mayoral candidate murdered, another wounded days before Mexico elections

A mayoral candidate in the central Mexican state of Morelos was murdered on Tuesday, while another one was wounded by gunfire in western Jalisco state, the governments of both states said in the latest incident of violence targeting Mexican politicians this year.

The attacks took place less than a week before Mexicans head to the polls to elect a new president and 20,000 other public officials, in a campaign marred by the murder of 30 candidates, according to the nongovernmental organization Data Civica.

In Morelos state, the victim was Ricardo Arizmendi, a candidate for mayor of the city of Cuautla, the state government said in a statement on social media. Officials said Arizmendi had no history of security incidents and had not requested protective measures.

In Jalisco state, candidate Gilberto Palomar, who was running for mayor of the Encarnacion de Diaz municipality, and two of his aides were shot inside a home, the state’s security coordinator Ricardo Sanchez Beruben wrote on social media.

According to the Mexican government, since the start of the election campaign in September 2023, 22 candidates have been murdered, a figure lower than Data Civica’s count.

Just last week, nine people were killed in two attacks against mayoral candidates in the southern state of Chiapas. The two candidates survived.

Earlier this month, six people, including a minor and mayoral candidate Lucero Lopez, were killed in an ambush after a campaign rally in the municipality of La Concordia, neighboring Villa Corzo.

One mayoral hopeful was shot dead last month just as she began campaigning.

Over 27,000 troops, including military personnel and National Guard members, will be deployed to guarantee security in Sunday’s general elections, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised.