Holding political office in Mexico has become a threat to your life.

 

Another mayor publicly slaughtered in Mexico

By Wendi Strauch Mahoney www.americanthinker.com

There has been an escalating pattern of cartel-related assassinations of politicians in Mexico since 2022.

Saturday’s assassination of a popular mayor was particularly brazen.  According to reporting from El País, Carlos Manzo Rodriguez (40), the mayor of Uruapan, in Michoacán, was shot during the traditional lighting of the Candle Festival for the Día de los Muertos celebrations.  A man approached him, shooting seven rounds, allegedly shooting Manzo six times.  Manzo was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.  A city council member and a bodyguard were also wounded.  It was reportedly the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) that ordered and carried out the shooting.

Manzo is the sixth mayor assassinated in Mexico this year.  According to Attorney General Carlos Torres Piña, the assassination was planned.  Authorities say the gunman — linked to prior cartel violence — was killed at the scene, and the investigation remains open.  Authorities identified Osvaldo Gutiérrez Vázquez, known as “El Cuate” (“Buddy”), as responsible for the murder.  Chaos broke out only moments after he had set down his young son, whom he was holding while enjoying the festivities.

Elected for the 2024–2027 term, Manzo ran and won as an independent candidate, distancing himself from the National Regeneration Movement (Morena).  He was known for his fearless, “zero tolerance” stance against crime in the state and was often called the “Mexican Bukele.”  Manzo had publicly “begged President Sheinbaum for help fighting the cartels and was seen as a 2030 presidential candidate,” according to U.S. Homeland Security News on X.

Warring cartels control local municipalities and politicians

Mexican cartels have diversified into extortion, “protection” rackets, and violent territorial control.  It is alarmingly common for politicians and officials to be bought off by cartels, but Manzo “was different.”  According to David Saucedo, a security consultant in Mexico City, “most municipal governments, the mayors, submit to criminal powers.  Carlos Manzo was an exception: an honest, brave mayor who decided to confront, with limited resources, organized crime groups.”

His assassination is also an economic story.  Michoacán is Mexico’s avocado capital, with exports between $3 million and $4 million annually, employing “approximately 300,000 people.”  It is a lucrative battleground for rival criminal groups.  Violence there permeates cross-border supply chains and affects prices in the U.S., making Manzo’s murder more than a local crime story.

Manzo was known for his grassroots campaign called “El Movimiento del Sombrero” or the Hat Movement, named for his signature cowboy hat.  His movement was tough on crime and anti-corruption and grounded in family values.  “Hat Movement” protests erupted in several surrounding municipalities following his death.  His widow, Grecia Quiróz, was sworn in as mayor and pledged to carry on his fight against organized crime despite the risks.

Why is this assassination so important?

Manzo was loved for publicly challenging organized crime and petitioned for stronger federal action to support local communities.  He criticized corruption and the extortion of farmers and argued that the lack of aggressive action by Sheinbaum against the cartels exposed communities to economic and physical harms.

He argued that Mexico City ties the hands of local authorities, endangering communities in his state.  Framing Uruapan’s problem as a federal one (organized crime statutes, restricted-use weapons), he forcefully demanded action from Mexico City.  His very public murder amid a packed holiday celebration underscores the peril of defying the cartels — and the state’s failure to safeguard civic life.

Sheinbaum has not shifted her strategy much in the wake of the killing, much to the chagrin of Manzo’s irate supporters.  At her November 4 daily news briefing, she touted a “new” “Michoacán Plan for Peace and Justice.”  However, in reality, it was a reiteration of standing policies.  She vowed to “take a comprehensive approach to strengthen security by addressing the root causes of violence, a key element of the security policies she implemented when she took office a year ago,” according to AP News.

The Michoacán Plan, as outlined by Sheinbaum, is based on three core pillars: security and justice, economic development with justice, and education and culture for peace.  Each pillar, she believes, addresses both the symptoms and the root causes of violence in the region.  Sheinbaum explains:

It stems from a deep conviction that security is not sustained through wars, but through justice, development, and respect for life. Peace is not imposed by force; it is built with people, with communities, and with the daily work of those who love their land.

In sum, Sheinbaum believes that peace cannot be “imposed with force,” a point of view grounded in her criticism of Felipe Calderón’s 2006 deployment of military forces against cartels.  She did, however, deploy additional National Guard forces to Michoacán and Uruapan.

Escalating cartel violence against politicians

There have been multiple targeted killings of politicians in Mexico.  Most have been organized to capture local governments, shape candidate selection, control law enforcement, budgets, and municipal permits.  According to reporting from Reuters, in 2024, “from September to May, across Mexico, 34 candidates or aspiring candidates have been assassinated.”  By the June 2 election, there were 37, one of the bloodiest election cycles to date.  And according to independent violence monitor data published by ACLED,

the election was marred by assassinations and targeted attacks on candidates and other political figures. ACLED records over 330 incidents of violence targeting political figures during the election campaign, between the start of the federal campaign on 1 March and the voting day on 2 June. At least 95 incidents led to one or more reported deaths. The level of violence during this election campaign marks a record high that eclipses the violence recorded in the 2018 general and 2021 federal elections, which had 254 and 257 events, respectively.

Mayors have been frequent targets of the cartels.  In Michoacán, a sitting mayor, Yolanda Sánchez of Cotija, was ambushed and killed in June 2024.  Prosecutors allegedly linked threats against her to CJNG, which had kidnapped her the previous year.  Media and monitoring groups report that Manzo was at least the sixth mayor slain in 2025 amid continued cartel pressure on municipalities.