Mayor found murdered in the back of a delivery truck, days after the murder of a politician in the same region of Mexico

A mayor was found murdered in southern Mexico, local authorities said Saturday, less than a week after another politician was killed in the same cartel-ridden region.

The murder of Acacio Flores, who represents Malinaltepec, occurred a few days after the Killing of Salvador Villalba Floresanother mayor from the state of Guerrero who was elected in the June 2 elections.

Prosecutors in Guerrero said in a statement that Flores’ death had been classified as homicide and that agents of the ministerial investigative police were investigating the case.

Flores’ body was discovered in the back of a van in Malinaltepec with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, a human rights activist told AFP.

The human rights activist was involved in negotiations for the politician’s release after he was arrested in an indigenous village on Thursday. The mayor, who belongs to the Solidarité Encounter (PES) party, was attacked and kidnapped on his way to Alacatlazala, local media reported.

Guerrero’s prosecutor said an aggravated murder investigation had been opened, with a possible land ownership dispute part of the probe. In a statement on social media, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda said she strongly condemned the killing and vowed authorities would “identify, track down and bring to justice those responsible.”

In the days before his death, Flores had declared on social media that he would “deliver results” and “leave a mark in the most remote villages of the municipality.”

Since the start of the Mexican election campaign last September, around 30 political candidates have been killed, according to the non-governmental organization Data Civica.

In the parliamentary elections in Mexico on June 2, the left-wing Claudia Sheinbaum chosen with an overwhelming majority as first president of the country.

Since the election, two female politicians have been killed. Earlier this month, a local City Councilor was gunned down as she left her home in Guerrero. Her murder came days after the mayor of a western Mexican city and her bodyguard killed in front of a gymjust hours after Sheinbaum won the presidential election.

Guerrero is one of the states most affected by drug-related crime due to its location on Mexico’s Pacific coast. In 2023, 1,890 murders were recorded here. Guerrero is one of six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to avoid entirely due to crime and violence.