By Deutsche Welle
01 Jun 2024, 19:28 PM EDT
A candidate for mayor was murdered on Friday in the state of Puebla, in central Mexico, less than 48 hours before the general elections in Mexico begin, marked by the murder of more than 20 candidates, local authorities reported.
A statement from the State Prosecutor’s Office confirmed at night the death of Jorge Huerta Cabrera, which occurred in the afternoon in the middle of the street, in the municipality of Izúcar de Matamoros, where he was a candidate.
“The Prosecutor’s Office has carried out various investigative acts that continue and that include the removal of the body,” detailed a statement from the agency.
The authorities also reported that the politician’s wife and one of his collaborators were injured in the attack.
Huerta Cabrera, who according to local media was 30 years old, was competing for a seat in the Izúcar de Matamoros council with the Green Party, an ally of the ruling party Morena.
Elections marked by violence
“His life was taken unjustly and violently,” said in a statement released on social networks by Eliseo “El Chino” Morales, candidate for mayor of the municipality for the same party and close to the victim.
The election campaign on Sunday, June 2, in which the president, federal legislators, nine governors and more than 20,000 local officials are elected, has been marked by a wave of attacks against the candidates that has rebounded in the last week.
The federal government reported 22 candidates murdered as of Tuesday. Since then, three more candidate deaths have been recorded.
The Data Cívica organization reports thirty homicides of candidates since the campaign began on September 23, 2023.
On Wednesday, the proselytizing events for next Sunday’s elections closed, in which some 100 million Mexicans – out of a population of 129 million – are eligible to vote.