A mayor in southern Mexico was found murdered in the back of van, just days after another politician was killed in the same region.
Acacio Flores, who represents Malinaltepec, was found dead after the killing of Salvador Villalba Flores, another mayor from Guerrero state elected in June 2 polls.
Prosecutors in Guerrero said Lores’ death had been ruled a homicide, and agents of the Ministerial Police were investigating.
Flores was found with a bullet wound to the back of the head in the back of a van, a human rights campaigner told AFP.
The rights activist said the politician was detained Thursday in an Indigenous village, CBS news reported.
The mayor was later attacked and kidnapped while traveling to Alacatlazala, local media reported.
The public prosecutor in Guerrero said they were reviewing possible land ownership disputes.
Guerrero governor, Evelyn Salgado Pineda, condemned the murder and promised that authorities would “identify, locate and bring to justice the perpetrators.”
Prior to Flores’s death, the politician posted on social media that he was “delivering results” and “leaving a mark on the most remote villages of the municipality.”
Since the start of Mexico’s campaign season, around 30 political candidates have been killed, according to Data Civica.
In Mexico’s general election, leftist Claudia Sheinbaum was elected by an overwhelming majority, becoming the country’s first woman president.
Two female politicians have been killed since the election.
A gunman shot and killed a local councilwoman as she left her home earlier this June.
Just days before her murder, a Mexican mayor and her bodyguard were murdered outside a gym on the day Sheinbaum won her victory.
🇲🇽 | ÚLTIMA HORA: Fue asesinada Gisela Gaytán, candidata del partido Morena a la alcaldía de Celaya en Guanajuato, México.
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews) April 2, 2024
La candidata fue atacada a balazos mientras se encontraba en un mitin en la comunidad de San Miguel Octopan. pic.twitter.com/Tc1PZGBMn5
Guerrero reported 1,890 murders in 2023 and is one of the six Mexican states that the U.S. State Department recommends Americans avoid due to rampant violent crime.
READ: Trump Unveils New Plan to Declare Mexican Drug Cartels ‘Unlawful Enemy Combatants’
