Mexico Mayoral Candidate Shot Dead At Campaign Event

A mayoral candidate was shot dead on Sunday at a campaign event in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the state governor said.

Yesenia Lara, the candidate of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena party for mayor of Texistepec, was identified by local media as the slain politician.

Footage posted online shows people running and screaming as gunshots ring out at a procession of motorcycles and supporters carrying Morena flags.

Other images shared online appeared to show bodies in the street.

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“We will find those responsible for the cowardly murder of the Morena candidate and supporters in Texistepec; four dead and three wounded,” Veracruz state governor Rocio Nahle posted on X.

“No position or office is worth a person’s life.”

Attacks on politicians are common in Mexico, particularly at local level, due to violence linked to corruption and the multibillion-dollar narcotics trade.

The killing comes two days after Cecilia Ruvalcaba, a councillor in Mexico’s western state of Jalisco, was gunned down in a hospital.

Criminal violence has seen around 480,000 people murdered in Mexico since 2006.

AFP