Mexico City
Reuters
—
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised on Sunday there can be justice for the brazen murder of a neighborhood mayor, Carlos Manzo, an outspoken critic of organized crime who had known as on the federal government to do extra to guard him and others.
Manzo, 40, was shot on Saturday whereas attending a candlelight Day of the Dead competition within the metropolis heart of Uruapan, within the violence-plagued western state of Michoacan.
Two suspects have been arrested and a 3rd was lifeless, Mexico’s safety ministry stated on Saturday.
Sheinbaum known as an emergency assembly of her safety cupboard on Sunday morning, later condemning Manzo’s “vile” assassination in a press release on X.
“We reaffirm our commitment to deploy all the State’s efforts to achieve peace and security with zero impunity and full justice,” Sheinbaum wrote.
A march was known as for Sunday in Michoacan’s capital, Morelia, to demand justice for Manzo’s demise and an finish to violence and corruption.
One of the few impartial politicians elected to workplace in Mexico, Manzo had been Uruapan’s mayor since September 2024. Since taking workplace, Manzo, usually seen sporting a bulletproof vest, had known as on the federal authorities to do extra to struggle organized crime whereas expressing fears for his personal security.
“I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed, those whose lives have been taken from them,” Manzo stated in an interview in September with Mexican journalist Joaquin Lopez-Doriga.
Uruapan has been known as Mexico’s avocado capital as a result of it sits within the coronary heart of Michoacan’s avocado-growing area. The industry has seen rapid growth attributable to booming U.S. demand, making avocado manufacturing a goal for organized legal teams.
Multiple politicians, including other mayors, and journalists have been killed in current months and years.
“How many mayors haven’t they killed because they opposed making these pacts with organized crime?” Manzo requested in a September interview with Mexico’s Milenio TV.
He appealed to Sheinbaum for stronger public safety measures and stated Uruapan’s avocado trade gave it significance forward of a coming evaluation of Mexico’s commerce take care of the U.S. and Canada.
Manzo additionally stated better willpower was wanted on the half of Security Minister Omar Harfuch.
“Minister Omar Harfuch, help us,” Manzo stated within the interview.
In a Sunday press convention, Harfuch stated Manzo had had federal safety since December 2024, which was strengthened in May. The safety included 14 National Guard troops tasked with perimeter safety, whereas native police supplied rapid safety.
“The aggressors took advantage of the vulnerability of a public event,” Harfuch stated, referring to Manzo’s murder. “Be certain that there will be no impunity.”
U.S. officers condemned the killing.
“The U.S. stands ready to deepen security cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on both sides of the border,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X, sharing a photograph of Manzo along with his younger son shortly earlier than the mayor’s murder.