Mexican mayor killed during Day of the Dead celebrations | Mexico
A mayor in Mexico’s western state of Michoacán was shot to death in a square in front of dozens of people gathered for Day of the Dead celebrations, authorities said.
Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, mayor of the municipality of Uruapan, was shot and killed in the town’s historic center on Saturday night. The man was taken to the hospital and later died, according to state prosecutor Carlos Torres Piña.
A municipal council member and a guard were also injured in the attack.
Federal security minister Omar García Harfuch told reporters that the attack on the mayor was carried out by an unidentified man who shot him seven times.
He added that the gun was linked to two gunfights between rival criminal groups operating in the area.
“No investigation is ruled out that would clarify this cowardly act that cost the mayor his life,” García Harfuch added.
Michoacán is one of Mexico’s most violent states and a battleground between various cartels and criminal groups fighting for control of territory, drug distribution routes and other illegal activities.
On Sunday, hundreds of Uruapan residents, dressed in black and holding photos of Manzo Rodríguez, took to the streets of the town to accompany the funeral procession. They chanted “Justice, justice. Morena out,” a reference to Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum’s ruling party.
In recent months, the mayor of Uruapan had made a public appeal to Sheinbaum on social media for help in fighting cartels and criminal groups. Michoacán’s pro-government governor, Alfredo Ramírez, had accused Bedolla and the state police of corruption.
At the head of the procession was a man leading Manzo Rodríguez’s black horse; On his saddle was one of the mayor’s signature hats. A group of musicians, also dressed in black, followed and played mariachi songs.
Dozens of police and military officers guarded the area in the narrow streets of the agricultural town.
The attack on Manzo Rodríguez, a former member of parliament for Morena, was captured on video and shared on social media. Footage showed dozens of residents and tourists enjoying the event before several gunshots rang out and people ran for cover.
Another video shows a person lying on the ground while an officer performs CPR.
Manzo Rodríguez had been under protection since December 2024, three months after taking office. Its security was strengthened last May with municipal police and 14 national guard officers, García Harfuch said, without specifying the reason for the measure.
Manzo Rodríguez, whom some called the “Mexican Bukele” due to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele’s harsh security policies, took office as mayor of Uruapan after winning that year’s midterm elections with an independent movement.
The murder of the mayor followed the death of Salvador Bastidas, mayor of the municipality of Tacámbaro, also in Michoacán. Bastidas was killed when he arrived at his home in the town’s Centro district with his bodyguard in June.
In October 2024, journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís de Manzo was shot in Uruapan shortly after interviewing Rodríguez.
