The mayor of a town in western Mexico was killed a day after Claudia Sheinbaum clinched victory in the country’s record-breaking presidential election.
The Michoacan state government condemned “the murder of the municipal president of Cotija, Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa,” the regional interior ministry stated in a post on X.
In office since 2021, Sanchez was shot multiple times while standing just a few feet away from the municipal palace.
Although no details about her murder were disclosed, authorities have initiated a security operation to apprehend the perpetrators.
Sheinbaum, the successor to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has vowed to continue the former president’s security policies. Her opponent, Xochitl Galvez, had campaigned on adopting a tougher stance against the cartels and rising crime.
This past election cycle has been one of the most violent in Mexico, with at least 37 candidates assassinated during the campaign season.
Violence has reached alarming levels in states like Michoacan, where criminal groups are battling for control. In this state, a conflict exists between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and a group known as “Pájaros Sierra.”
Sanchez was kidnapped last year by the Jalisco Cartel while leaving a shopping mall in Guadalajara.
The group allegedly threatened her for resisting its attempts to take over her municipality’s police force. She was found alive three days later.
