Calls for justice after Mexico mayor killed during Day of the Dead festival

After a local mayor and outspoken critic of organized crime was shot dead while attending a Day of the Dead festival in Uruapan, Mexicans in the state of Michoacan have called for justice.

On Sunday, hundreds of Uruapan residents took to the streets to pay their last farewell to the slain mayor.

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They chanted “Justice!” Justice ! referring to the Mexican President’s party, Claudia Sheinbaum, in “Out with Morena”!

The Uruapan Municipal Mayor, Manzo, was shot dead on Saturday night in the historic center of the city. He later passed away in a hospital where he was taken. He acquired a 40-year-old license.

In addition to the injuries, a bodyguard and a city council member were hurt.

Federal Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch announced to journalists on Sunday that the attacker had been killed at the scene.

Unidentified man shot the mayor seven times during the attack, according to Harfuch. He continued, citing the weapon’s connection to two armed hostilities between rival criminal organizations operating in the area.

No avenue of investigation is being ruled out, according to Harfuch, who defended the mayor’s death.

Assassination in “vile” terms

There would be justice, the Mexican president vowed.

Sheinbaum held a security cabinet’s emergency meeting on Sunday morning, and later publicly decried Manzo’s “vile” murder in a statement posted on X.

We “reaffirm our commitment to use all of the State’s means to achieve peace and security with no impunity and full justice,” she wrote.

Since September 20, 2024, Manzo has been mayor of Uruapan.

Manzo had urged the federal government to do more in the fight against organized crime while expressing concerns for his safety since taking office, frequently seen in a bulletproof vest.

In an interview with Mexican journalist Joaquin Lopez-Doriga in September, Manzo said, “I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed, those whose lives have been taken from them.”

Uruapan, which is located in the heart of Michoacan’s avocado-growing region, has earned it the nickname “the avocado capital of Mexico.” Due to the booming US demand, avocado production has become a target for organized criminal organizations.

In recent months and years, numerous politicians and journalists have been killed.

How many mayors have been murdered because they opposed joining organized crime in these pacts? Mexico’s Milenio TV spoke with Manno in another interview in September. He urged Sheinbaum to enact tougher laws to protect public safety and said the avocado industry in Uruapan was important in preparation for a pending review of Mexico’s trade agreement with the US and Canada.

Three months after taking office, security minister Harfuch claimed that Manzo had been under protection since December 2024. According to Harfuch, his security was increased by the addition of 14 National Guard officers and municipal police in May.

In reference to Manzo’s murder, Harfuch said, “The aggressors took advantage of the vulnerability of a public event.” “Be assured that no impunity will exist.”

The killing was also condemned by American authorities.

According to deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau, who shared a photo of Manzo with his young son shortly before the mayor’s murder, “The US stands ready to intensify security cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on both sides of the border.”

Salvador Bastidas, mayor of Tacambaro, also in Michoacan, passed away in the wake of the mayor’s death. As he arrived at his home in the town’s Centro neighborhood in June, Bactidas was killed along with his bodyguard.