Mexico: councilwoman from Tixtla (Guerrero) murdered

Esmeralda Garzón Campos, councilwoman in the municipality of Tixtl (Guerrero), was shot to death at the door of her house, located in the center of the city. The information was confirmed through a statement by the Attorney General's Office of the Mexican State.

It would be the second murder of a woman in public office since Claudia Sheinbaum became the first woman to take the country's presidency last week. Garzón was elected under the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and later expressed her support for Sheinbaum for the presidential race, as recalled by CBS.

Authorities explained that an operation was deployed to find those responsible. According to authorities, agents from the Ministerial Investigative Police (PIM) and Expert Services went to the scene to collect evidence necessary in the investigation.

Prior to this event, one day after the elections, the mayor of the municipality of Cotija, in the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), was murdered. Yolanda Sánchez was already kidnapped last September. She became mayor after the 2021 elections under the banner of the conservative National Action Party (PAN).

Both crimes occur at the end of the most violent electoral campaign in the contemporary history of Mexico. At least 70 people have been killed in cases related to electoral violence. Of them, more than 30 were candidates for public office.

"Political violence and widespread violence in Mexico have seen serious increases in recent years. National organizations such as Data Cívica have also initiated monitoring processes to understand how the increase in violence has been having strong impacts on the democratic life of the country," said the non-governmental organization Laboratorio Electoral.