The mayor of the city of Chilpancingo, in southern Mexico, Alejandro Arcos, He was assassinated on Sunday, after just six days in officea crime that could be investigated by the federal prosecutor’s office, President Claudia Sheinbaum reported this Monday. According to local media, the mayor was beheaded.
“Regarding the unfortunate event of the municipal president (mayor) of Chilpancingo (…) the necessary investigations are being carried out to know What was the reason and what was the motive? and of course make the corresponding arrests,” Sheinbaum said in his usual morning press conference.
He added that federal authorities They are collaborating with those of the state of Guerrerowhere Chilpancingo, the state capital, is located. “It is being seen whether it is necessary to bring the case to the attorney general’s office of the republic,” he stated.
Sheinbaum pointed out that despite the crime in Arcos, which occurred after the murder on October 3 of its city council secretary Francisco Tapia, the city of Chilpancingo “does not appear among the municipalities with the highest number of homicides.”
Hours before his death, Arcos published photos on his social networks of a visit to communities affected by the recent passage of a hurricanen.
In a message posted on Facebook, Arcos’ family honored him, highlighting “his unwavering commitment to peace, service and the well-being of his community.”
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), to which the official belonged, He denounced the “cowardly crime” and asked for justice.
“Enough of violence and impunity! The people of Guerrero do not deserve to live in fear,” said the PRI on the social network X.
Evelyn Salgado, the governor of the state of Guerrero, condemned Arcos’ murder. “His loss mourns the entire Guerrero society and fills us with indignation”wrote in X.
Alejandro Moreno, president of the PRI, also condemned the crime and recalled Tapia’s death days ago. “They had been in office for less than a week. Young and honest officials who sought progress for their community,” he lamented.
Guerrero, one of the poorest states in Mexico, It is also one of the most affected by the violence of the drug cartelswhich take advantage of its strategic location on the Pacific coast.
Last year, 1,890 murders were recorded in the statehome of the popular beach resort of Acapulco, once a favorite celebrity destination now plagued by crime.
Confronting cartel violence is one of the biggest challenges facing Sheinbaum, the first female president in Mexican history.
The former mayor of the Mexican capital, who took office on October 1, pledged to maintain the strategy of “hugs not bullets” of his predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who chose to use social policy to attack crime from the roots.
“We are going to work in some states in particular with greater presence, intelligence, investigation, in coordination with the governors,” said Sheinbaum, who will present his security plan this Tuesday.
More than 450,000 people have been killed and some 100,000 have disappeared in Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006.
Politicians, particularly at the local level, are frequently victims of violence related to corruption and the multibillion-dollar drug trade.