The sixth political candidate has been assassinated in Mexico, making it the latest in a string of politician murders leading up to the national elections.
On Wednesday, prosecutors in the south of Mexico reported that a candidate for mayor was murdered in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast. This is one of six cases where local officials have been targeted.
Ongoing number of casualties due to homicide in the current year.
Prior to the national elections on June 2nd.
Tomás Morales had aspirations of becoming the mayor of Chilapa, Guerrero, a city plagued by violence.
The Morena party had not officially designated Morales as a candidate, but he was seen as a leading competitor in the race.
According to state prosecutors, Morales was fatally shot by a gunman outside his residence in Chilapa on Tuesday night. For over ten years, the remote city of Chilapa has been the site of violent conflicts between rival drug organizations.
Earlier in the month, Alfredo González, a candidate for mayor in Atoyac, Guerrero, was killed by gunfire.
In February, towards the end of the month, two candidates for mayor in the nearby state of Michoacán, were nominated in the town of Maravatío.killed by gunmen
within a matter of hours.
One, like Morales, was from the governing Morena party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The other belonged to the conservative National Action Party. A third mayoral hopeful from that town was abducted and found dead in November.
On February 10th, a man who was campaigning for Congress for the Morena party was killed in the streets of Ecatepec, a suburb of Mexico City. His brother was also killed in the incident. It is reported that he had previously received threats from a local union.
One month prior, on January 5, the regional leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and potential mayor for Suchiate, Chiapas, was murdered. On the same day, in the northern state of Colima, a candidate from the Citizen Movement party was attacked by armed individuals while driving in Armeria.
The drug cartels in Mexico frequently target mayors and candidates for assassination in order to have influence over the local police or gain monetary from the city government.
Unfortunately, violence and poverty have plagued Guerrero, leading to the death of Morales. This state has become a hotbed of conflict between rival criminal organizations, all vying for control of drug trade, kidnappings, and extortion.
Last month, investigators in Guerrero said they confirmed the contents of a grisly drug cartel video showing gunmen shooting, kicking and burning the corpses of their enemies. In January, an alleged , Mexico
Assault on a cartel in Guerrero, Mexico.
At least six people were killed and 13 others were injured.
Guerrero is among six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to completely avoid, citing crime and violence. “Armed groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero,” the State Department says in its travel advisory.
Since 2006, when former president Felipe Calderon initiated a contentious military operation against drugs, Mexico has experienced over 420,000 homicides and tens of thousands of individuals reported as missing.
Source: cbsnews.com