Salvador Villalba Flores — who was to take workplace in October in Copala, a city of about 4,000 residents about 80 miles southeast of Acapulco — was shot lifeless whereas touring on a freeway, prosecutors in Guerrero state stated in a statement.
Prosecutors stated that that they had launched an investigation into the homicide, however declined to supply additional particulars.
Local newspaper El Sur de Guerrero reported that Villalba was a retired Navy captain who was often protected by National Guard escorts, however was touring alone to Mexico City when he was killed.
“The mayor-elect was taken off the bus he was touring on when it stopped close to San Pedro las Playas” and shot, the outlet reported.
Local media additionally reported Villalba had determined to run for mayor after his buddy, a candidate, was murdered in June 2023.
In Mexico’s basic election on June 2, leftist Claudia Sheinbaum was elected by an awesome majority because the first lady president of the nation.
As effectively as selecting a brand new president, Mexicans voted for members of Congress, a number of state governors and myriad native officers — a complete of greater than 20,000 positions.
Since Mexico’s marketing campaign season started final September, greater than two dozen political candidates have been killed, in accordance with Data Civica, a non-governmental group.
Earlier this month, a neighborhood councilwoman was gunned down as she was leaving her dwelling in Guerrero. Her homicide got here a number of days after the mayor of a city in western Mexico and her bodyguard had been killed outdoors of a fitness center, simply hours after Sheinbaum received the presidency.
Acapulco was as soon as a playground for the wealthy and well-known, nevertheless it has misplaced its luster within the final decade as overseas vacationers have been spooked by bloodshed that has made it one of many world’s most violent cities.
Last month, 5 individuals had been killed in an armed assault in Acapulco, simply three days after 10 different our bodies had been discovered within the resort metropolis.
Guerrero, one of many states most affected by drug cartel violence given its location alongside Mexico’s Pacific coast, recorded 1,890 murders in 2023.
More than 450,000 individuals have been murdered and hundreds have gone lacking because the Mexican authorities deployed the military to fight drug trafficking in 2006.
