Another mayoral candidate in Mexico was murdered late Wednesday as the country suffers a wave of assassination before the upcoming election on Sunday.
Alfredo Cabrera was gunned down in the town of Coyuca de Benitez in the southern state of Guerrero as he was making his way towards the stage to address some 300 supporters on the final stop of his campaign.
Video of the incident, captured by a person in the crowd, showed Mr. Cabrera as he moved through the crowd, shaking hands with supporters before an unknown man pulled out a gun and shot him in the back of the head. Some 15 shots can be heard as the crowd erupted in panic.
Mr. Cabrera was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials said the alleged murderer was killed at the scene but gave no further details.
“I strongly condemn the unfortunate events in which the candidate for the municipal presidency of Coyuca de Benítez for the PRI, PAN and PRD coalition, Alfredo Cabrera Barrientos, lost his life,” Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said in a statement on social media platform X.
“To clarify this cowardly crime and guarantee no impunity, I have asked the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Guerrero to carry out the pertinent investigations to apply the full weight of the law to him or those responsible for this crime.”
Mr. Cabrera was a member of an opposition coalition that backed presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez, a center-right senator and businesswoman who is running against President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The PRI, a coalition party of Mr. Cabrera’s, announced the death of its candidate on X “with great sadness and anger,” blaming Mr. López Obrador, who earlier this month downplayed the attacks on political candidates as “sensationalism” by “people seeking to profit from the killings and the human suffering.”
“It is a shame that the Morena government has not made even the slightest effort to guarantee the safety of the candidates and that this campaign ends violently.”
Ruben Moreira, the PRI election coordinator, posted shocking footage of the assassination on X.
“‘Nothing is happening’ says the government. ‘It’s the conservatives who are exaggerating’ shouts #morena,” he wrote. “In any democracy this would be a scandal and the government would call for national unity, in #Mexico attacks are minimized and parties are attacked instead.”
“Murderers by inaction, that’s what they are.”
Mr. Cabrera’s assassination marks the 36th murder of an electoral candidate since September, not counting threats and failed assassination attempts. The victims are mostly candidates in local municipal elections, although armed attacks have also been targeted at family members, bodyguards, and candidates’ staff members.
Threats and violence directed at Mexican politicians presumably originate from the drug cartels, who seek to gain control over local law enforcement to secure their drug trafficking operations or even to extort money from municipal governments.
Earlier this month, the dismembered remains of Anibal Zuniga Cortes, a candidate for the presidency of the PRI, PAN, and PRD coalition, were found in a van in Acapulco, together with those of his wife and two other people.
Most victims were shot to death, sometimes by men on motorcycles, one was stabbed to death, others were abducted and killed, in some cases along with their family members.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
