Alejandro Arcos Catalan, the mayor of the Mexican city of Chilpancingo, was assassinated on Sunday, and his head was left on the roof of a car, inform officials quoted by AFP and Reuters.
The 43-year-old mayor had only taken office six days ago in the capital of the state of Guerrero in southern Mexico.
“I strongly condemn the killing (…) confirmed by the state’s general prosecutor’s office. His loss mourns the whole society of Guerrero and fills us with indignation”, wrote on X the governor Evelyn Salgado, representative of the left party Morena (Movement for National Regeneration), which is in government.
The President of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI, opposition), Alejandro Moreno, also reported the crime, without referring to the beheading.
“They assassinated our mayor of Chilpancingo, Alejandro Arcos, and only three days ago, the secretary of the same municipality, Francisco Tapia. They were in office for less than a week,” he declared, describing the two victims on social media as “young and honest officials who wanted the progress of their community.
However, several sites reported on the beheading, such as Jornada, close to power, or Reforma, which frequently criticizes the government. Images of Arcos’ head on a pickup truck circulated on WhatsApp.
The Guerrero prosecutor’s office confirmed it was investigating the murder.
That state is known as one of the most dangerous for local elected officials and journalists – even “ungovernable”, according to Moreno, who requested that the investigation be taken over by the national prosecutor’s office.
On June 2, Arcos Catalan won the municipal elections in the city with over 280,000 inhabitants, on the list of the opposition alliance PRI-PRD (Democratic Revolution Party)-PAN (National Action Party).
The assassination took place only five days after the inauguration of the new president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, who is to present her national security plan on Tuesday.
Source: www.cotidianul.ro
