Mayor of southern Mexico murdered less than a week after taking office

The mayor of the capital of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero was murdered less than a week after taking office, authorities said Sunday.

Alejandro Arcos was sworn in Monday as mayor of Chilpancingo, a city so violent that a drug cartel held a demonstration in broad daylight, stole a government armored vehicle and took police officers hostage in 2023 to demand the release of detained suspects. .

The state prosecutor’s office issued a statement Sunday confirming that Arcos had been murdered, but no further details were released.

Alejandro Moreno, national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), lamented the murder of Arcos and said that the newly appointed secretary of the Chilpancingo city council was also killed three days earlier.

“They had been in office for less than a week. Young and honest officials who sought progress for their community,” Moreno wrote on his social media accounts.

Chilpancingo has been the scene for years of bloody territorial disputes between two organized crime groups, Los Ardillos and Los Tlacos, which have resulted in dozens of murders and several scandals.

A previous mayor was caught on video apparently holding a meeting with leaders of one of the criminal groups at a restaurant. She was later expelled from the party.

In July 2023, federal officials noted that a demonstration involving hundreds of people that month in Chilpancingo had been organized by Los Ardillos in order to obtain the release of two of the organization’s leaders who had been arrested for drug possession. and weapons.

Protesters blocked traffic on the highway from Mexico City to the port of Acapulco for two days, clashed with security forces and stole an armored police vehicle that they used to ram the doors of the state legislature.

Protesters kidnapped 10 members of the state police and National Guard, as well as three state and federal officials, and held them hostage until their demands were met.

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