Two attacks on mayoral candidates in Mexico’s June elections left nine people dead in the southern state of Chiapas, prosecutors in the organized crime-ridden region said Sunday.
Two candidates were injured but survived the onslaught in the cities of Villa Corso and Mapastepec on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, it said in a statement.
The attack in Mapaspek targeted a car driven by Nicolas Noriega, who is running for the top position in the city government. Noriega confirmed the attack to The Associated Press, saying he was injured and at least five members of his camp were shot.
Morena, who is running under the country’s ruling party, did not add further details but was noticeably shaken after the attack. Photos shared by local media showed a red truck dotted with bullet holes and bloody bodies lying in the trunk and on the ground.
Noriega wrote on Facebook: “I deeply mourn the loss of my friends whose lives were taken in such a cowardly way. Evil will never rule our hearts. I hope more people love life and choose to do good. It’s because I’m here,” he posted. Sunday. “I call on all of society to come together to respect life.”
The attack marked an escalation in violence in Chiapas against politicians seeking office in the June 2 vote, when Mexicans will elect a new president.
Last week there were 6 people, Including minors and mayoral candidates Lucero López was killed in an ambush after an election rally in the city of La Concordia, adjacent to Villa Corso.
According to NGO Data Civica, more than 20 politicians have been killed since September last year, including one mayoral candidate. shot dead last month This was just when she started her campaign.
If relatives and other victims are included, the number of victims increases to more than 50.
Prosecutors said the attack in Villa Corso targeted a convoy carrying Mayor Roberto Toni Orozco, who is running for re-election from President Andres Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party.
Three people died in the attack, and one person was later taken to hospital.
Orozco was shot in both legs, the statement said.
Mexico’s president denies that Chiapas is on fire
Mexico has spiraled into criminal violence since then-President Felipe Calderon’s government launched a controversial military offensive against drug cartels in 2006, killing more than 450,000 people.
Since then, the homicide rate has nearly tripled to 23 per 100,000 residents.
Surveys show that many Mexicans believe that insecurity is the most pressing challenge for the next government.
Election campaigns in Chiapas are often violent, but the situation is changing as a war is being waged between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel in the area known as La Frailesca, which includes Villa Corso and La Concordia. It’s getting worse.
Cartels vie for control of drug trafficking routes and other criminal enterprises. blackmail.
Mapaspek is an important strategic area due to its proximity to the Pacific coast.
last week, 11 people died A shooting incident occurred in the village of Chicomcero, Chiapas.
Morena presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum was there in April. Interrupted by masked men Touring the Guatemalan border.
Victoria Lazo, The Washington Post, via Getty Images
Chiapas is one of the three Mexican states most affected by election violence due to its strategic location, with 55 victims reported so far, according to Mexican consulting firm Integraria. The only states that follow are Guerrero and Michoacán, the epicenters of Mexico’s cartel wars.
The spike in violence in Chiapas was an embarrassment to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who traveled to the border state for talks with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo on Friday. López Obrador.
Mr. Obrador has largely minimized the problem of violence, refusing to confront drug cartels.
“There are those who claim that Chiapas is on fire, but no, as I explained, the problem is in this region and we will solve it,” Obrador said Friday at a news conference in Tapachula, Chiapas. I intend to do so.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
