Assassination of Mayoral Candidate in Guerrero Captured on Camera, Over 30 Candidates Killed Ahead of Mexico's Biggest Ever Elections

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Jose Alfredo Cabrera, a mayoral candidate for an opposition coalition, was gunned down in Guerrero, causing chaos and panic among people attending the rally. He was killed in front of dozens of supporters and elements of the National Guard (GN).

Cabrera was not the only mayoral candidate attacked and killed this week. A mayoral candidate in the central Mexican state of Morelos was murdered on Tuesday, while another one was wounded by gunfire in Jalisco.

Cabrera's murder was captured on camera, with the footage showing him smiling and flanked by fans before he was shot several times by a gunman next to the person filming the candidate on their phone.

The state prosecutor's office said that "the alleged assailant was killed at the scene" as bodyguards immediately opened fire on the shooter. Three people were also injured and two others detained, according to witnesses.

The attacks took place just days before the country head to the polls to elect a new Mexican President and 20,000 other public officials, in a campaign marred by the murder of 30 candidates, according to the non-governmental organization Data Civica.

Cabrera’s murder topped a bloody election season with the murder of dozens of candidates (36 by one count) for different posts over a year. There were also dozens of similar murders in the run up to Mexico’s last presidential election in 2018.

According to the Mexican government, since the start of the election campaign cycle in September 2023, 22 candidates have been murdered, a figure lower than Data Civica's count.

Jose Alfredo Cabrera

Cabrera belonged to the same opposition coalition as presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez, who expressed indignation over his murder. "He was a generous and good man," she wrote on social media.

Reportedly, the killer arrived at the rally in a wheel chair as a rouse to get closer to the candidate.

Although the motive for this attack is unknown, at least two criminal groups operate in the disputed area; the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA) and Los Granados.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), part of the opposition coalition, accused the government of having "not made even the slightest effort to guarantee the safety of the candidates." Over 27,000 troops, including military personnel and National Guard members, will be deployed to guarantee security in Sunday's general elections, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised.

Cabrera had requested protection a few weeks ago, after the councilor candidate on his ticket, Aníbal Zúñiga Cortés , was murdered. On May 16, the bodies of he and his wife, Rubí Bravo Solís, were found dismembered in the bed of a truck in Acapulco.

Recent Political Killings & Attacks

In Morelos, the victim was Ricardo Arizmendi, a candidate for mayor of the city of Cuautla, the state government said in a statement on social media. Officials said Arizmendi had no history of security incidents and had not requested protective measures.

Jalisco, candidate Gilberto Palomar, who was running for mayor of the Encarnacion de Diaz municipality, and two of his aides were shot inside a home, the state's security coordinator Ricardo Sanchez Beruben wrote on social media.

Last week, 9 people were killed in two attacks against mayoral candidates in the southern state of Chiapas. The two candidates survived.

Earlier this month, 6 people, including a minor and mayoral candidate Lucero Lopez, were killed in an ambush after a campaign rally in the municipality of La Concordia, neighboring Villa Corzo.

One mayoral hopeful was shot dead last month just as she began campaigning.

José Efrén López Cortés, candidate for local deputy for Morena in the Congress of Guerrero was attacked by gunmen yesterday while driving his truck, he was able to get away.

According to residents of Aguililla, Michoacan, the CJNG demanded that residents vote for Elsa Guadalupe Contreras Sánchez, of the Green Party. “The cartel told us that if we don't vote for her and take a photo of the ballot to show them, the next day they are going to throw us out of town or kill us,” a resident said.

New President to Inherit Wave of Cartel Violence

Cartel violence will be among the major challenges facing the next leader of Mexico, along with managing migration and delicate relations with the United States.

More than 450,000 people have been murdered and tens of thousands have gone missing since the government deployed the military to fight drug trafficking in 2006; the beginning of the modern drug war.

Frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum, from the ruling Morena party, ended her campaign with a rally in the capital's main public square. She is a former Mexico City mayor and a scientist by training, with a sizable lead in the polls with 53% of voter support, according to research firm Oraculus.

"We're going to make history," Sheinbaum told the cheering crowd.

"I say to the young women, to all the women of Mexico -- colleagues, friends, sisters, daughters, mothers and grandmothers -- you are not alone," the 61-year-old said.

Sheinbaum has pledged to continue outgoing left-wing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's social programs and strategy of tackling crime at its roots -- a controversial policy that he calls "hugs not bullets."

Opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez promises a tougher approach to cartel-related violence. Galvez, a center-right senator and businesswoman with Indigenous roots, is second with 36%.

"You will have the bravest president, a president who does confront crime," she said.

Galvez accused Lopez Obrador of implementing "a security strategy where hugs have been for criminals and bullets for citizens."

Nearly 100 million people are registered to vote for the next President, members of Congress, several state governors and local officials, in the biggest-ever elections in the country of 129 million.

Sources CBS News, Infobae, CBS News