One day after Mexico elected its first female President, a female mayor of a town in western Mexico was killed.
Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa was shot on Monday evening just before 9 p.m. after leaving the gym accompanied by her bodyguard, municipal police officer Jesús V, according to a statement from the Michoacán attorney general’s office. Both were seriously wounded and later died in the hospital.
The statement continued to say that the suspects shot from a moving white truck and then escaped.
The governor of Michoacán state condemned the attack on social media.
“We deeply regret and condemn the murder of the municipal president of Cotija, Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa,” Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla wrote.
The governor ordered a joint investigation with federal authorities.
“We will not allow impunity in this or any other case of violence in Michoacán,” he stated.
According to local news, Ms. Sanchez suffered 19 bullet wounds.
On her Facebook page, Ms. Sanchez’s profile stated she was “defined by my preparation and desire to make Cotija a better place to live.”
Last year, Ms. Sanchez was kidnapped during a visit to Zapopan, in the state of Jalisco, which sparked a coordinated search campaign. The mayor was released by her captors two days later and took the bus home.
According to local media, the kidnapping occurred at the hands of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which is involved in a turf battle with other cartels all across Mexico, including in Ms. Figuerao’s town—an important hub connecting the northern and southern parts of western Mexico.
As a result of the cartel hostilities, Cotija residents don’t dare go out at night, local media reported. A former mayor, Contreras Mendoza, even likened the current situation in the town to the “Gaza Strip.”
Counting from September, no less than 36 political figures were assassinated in the run-up to the elections. The victims were mostly candidates in local municipal elections, although armed attacks have also been targeted at family members, bodyguards, and staff members.
Just last week, two mayoral candidates were shot dead, one inside a home and the other in broad daylight, while greeting the crowd on the last stop of his campaign trail.
The state of Michoacan was once a renowned tourist destination, but gang-related activity has made it into one of the most dangerous places in the country. In March, Mexico’s outgoing president acknowledged that four soldiers had been killed by an improvised bomb in a “trap” presumably set by a cartel. A few days later, three farmers were killed by a bomb left in a dirt road.
The U.S. State Department has issued a “do not travel to” warning for Michoacan state due to the high risks of crime and kidnapping and has greatly limited the movement of U.S. officials in the state.
