Unknown assailants shot and killed former official mayor Aurelio Méndez Rosales, from Huamuxtitlán, a municipality in the southern state of Guerrero, less than a month after leaving office. The attackers gunned down the politician from the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) inside his truck along with his driver, identified as Cristo, as confirmed by the State Attorney General's Office on Friday.
Residents of the municipality in the Mountain region of Guerrero reported that a shooting occurred at 2:00 PM (8:00 PM GMT) on Thursday at the municipal seat, where minutes later they reported the disappearance of the former mayor, who left office on September 30. Investigative police arrived at the scene and confirmed through a statement the double homicide, as both bodies were inside with gunshot wounds, indicating that no person was kidnapped.
The current municipal president, Daniel Méndez, from the opposing party Citizens' Movement (MC), requested the presence and support of state police as well as military forces to provide greater security to the residents, as other violent incidents occurred in nearby municipalities weeks earlier.
The State Attorney General's Office announced the opening of an investigation into the crime of qualified homicide, actively searching for the alleged perpetrators. Aurelio Méndez Rosales left the municipal administration 25 days ago, and before the end of his term and the elections on June 2, community promoter Abraham Ramírez, father of the Morena candidate in that municipality, Rosalba Ramírez, was shot and killed on February 7.
Guerrero is experiencing a wave of violence from organized crime that also affects politicians, as just on October 6, the opposition politician Alejandro Arcos, mayor of Chilpancingo, the state capital, was decapitated in an event that remains unresolved. These events show that the killings of politicians have not ended following what are considered the most violent elections in Mexico, from June 2, with more than 30 candidates murdered, according to civil organizations, although the Mexican Government has only acknowledged the murder of 12 candidates.
