Second Mexican Mayor Shot Dead in Just Two Days

A woman mayor in Mexico was shot and killed on Tuesday in Michoacán, just two days following a similar tragedy in the southern part of the country, where the mayor of a town was murdered in her office, according to AFP.

Martha Laura Mendoza, the mayor of Tepalcatepec, was killed alongside her husband, as reported by the Michoacán public prosecutor’s office on X.

Mendoza was affiliated with President Claudia Sheinbaum’s left-leaning Morena party.

The prosecutor’s office did not provide specific details about the incident, labeling it as a femicide, and indicated that it occurred within the town.

The former mayor of Tepalcatepec, Guillermo Valencia, the leader of the opposition PRI party in Michoacán, stated on X that sources informed him Mendoza and her husband were attacked “as they were leaving their home.”

Michoacán, which produces most of Mexico’s avocados, is also home to the port of Lázaro Cárdenas and several tourist attractions. However, it has faced persistent gang-related violence for almost twenty years.

This incident follows closely on the heels of another shooting, where gunmen invaded the office of San Mateo Pinas’ mayor, Lilia García, in Oaxaca state, killing her and a member of her staff.

Numerous local officials in Mexico have fallen victim to organized crime in recent years, particularly in regions where powerful drug trafficking organizations operate.

The violence has recently extended to the capital, Mexico City, where two aides to Mayor Clara Brugada were shot and killed while traveling during rush hour last month.

Since the government initiated a war against drug cartels in 2006, criminal violence—largely related to drug trafficking—has resulted in approximately 480,000 fatalities, with over 120,000 individuals still reported missing.