Mexico: Mayor assassinated in Hidalgo amid spike in political violence

Miguel Bahena, mayor of the municipality of Pisaflores in the state of Hidalgo, was shot to death Monday morning in the community of La Estancia, local authorities and the Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico (PVEM), the organization he was a member of.

According to police reports, armed men intercepted Bahena in the middle of the street, opened fire, and then fled the scene. AFP reported that the mayor’s body showed at least five gunshot wounds.

"The Green Party expresses its deepest consternation at this cowardly murder and demands the clarification of the facts and the arrest of those responsible," the political organization said in a statement.

Pisaflores had recently been in the news due to the damage caused by heavy rains that struck central and eastern Mexico two weeks ago, leaving 76 dead and 27 missing, according to federal Civil Protection.

Political violence on the rise

Mayor Bahena’s murder adds to a troubling list of local officials and political candidates killed in recent months.

According to data compiled by AP News and Animal Político, more than 35 local politicians and candidates have been assassinated so far in 2025, a trend that continues to make Mexico one of the most dangerous countries in the world for public officials.

In Michoacan, six mayors have been murdered since the start of the current federal administration. In April, a candidate for municipal president in Veracruz was executed as his campaign began, and in May, the personal secretary and an advisor to the mayor of Mexico City were gunned down in broad daylight in the capital.

The Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) has acknowledged that political violence is concentrated in rural municipalities, where criminal groups seek to control budgets, drug trafficking routes, or local decision-making.