Authorities: One mayoral candidate killed and one injured in Mexico ahead of elections

MEXICO CITY, May 29 — A mayoral candidate in the central Mexican state of Morelos was killed yesterday, while another was wounded by gunfire in the western state of Jalisco, the governments of both states said.

The attacks took place less than a week before Mexicans went to the polls to elect a new president and 20,000 other government officials, in a campaign marred by the assassinations of 30 candidates, according to the NGO Data Civica.

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In Morelos state, the victim was Ricardo Arizmendi, a candidate for mayor of the city of Cuautla, the state government said in a statement on social media.

In the state of Jalisco, candidate Gilberto Palomar, who was running for mayor of the municipality of Encarnacion de Diaz, and two of his aides were shot in a house, state security coordinator Ricardo Sanchez Beruben wrote on X.

According to the Mexican government, 22 candidates have been killed since the start of the election campaign in September 2023, a figure lower than Data Cívica’s count.

More than 27,000 troops, including soldiers and National Guard members, will be deployed to ensure security for Sunday’s general elections, President Lopez Obrador has promised. —AFP