Mayor beheaded in Mexico after six days in office

The mayor of the southern Mexican city of Chilpancingo, Alejandro Arcos, was assassinated, after just six days in office, AFP reports based on information from local authorities.

A photo of the crime scene, published on social networks shows that Arcos, 43, was decapitated and his head abandoned on the roof of a vehicle. Several local media outlets likewise mention decapitation. However, there has been no official confirmation.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), to which the official belonged, denounced the "cowardly crime" and called for justice. "Enough of violence and impunity! The people of Guerrero do not deserve to live in fear," said the PRI in X. The State Attorney General's Office announced that it had opened an investigation.

Evelyn Salgado, the governor of the state of Guerrero, whose capital is Chilpancingo, condemned Arcos' murder. "His loss is mourned by the entire Guerrero society and fills us with indignation," she wrote on social networks, without giving details of the circumstances of his death.

Alejandro Moreno, president of the PRI, condemned the crime and recalled that "just three days ago (they murdered) the secretary of this same City Hall, Francisco Tapia." "They had been in office for less than a week. Young and honest officials who were seeking progress for their community," he lamented.

Guerrero is one of the Mexican states most affected by drug cartel violence because of its strategic location stretching along the Pacific coast.

More than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have disappeared in Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006.

Politicians, particularly at the local level, are often victims of violence related to corruption and the multi-billion dollar drug trade.