The dangers of being Mayor in Mexico

In a period of just five months, five mayors in Mexico have been shot.

Just few hours ago, an armed group shot Ricardo Solís Manriquez, the elected mayor of Gran Morelos, in the state of Chihuahua.  According to preliminary reports, he was shot in front of his veterinary business. As of Friday afternoon, his condition is reported as serious. 

Yesterday, Prisciliano Rodriguez, mayor of Doctor Gonzalez, a small town of around 4,000 people in the state of Nuevo León, was also killed. He was shot outside of his home. Rodriguez represented a coalition of political forces that include the Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI), Partido del Trabajo (PT) and others.

On Sept. 8, Alexander Lopez, mayor of El Naranjo, a small municipality in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico, was also killed. This time, the killers went into city hall and killed him in his own office.  He was 35 years old and was representing a coalition between the Partido Verde Ecologista and the PRI.

On Aug. 16, the body of Edelmiro Cavazos was dumped near a waterfall in a popular tourist area close to Monterrey in the state of Nuevo León. Cavazos’ hands were bound and his head was wrapped in tape. Cavazos was the mayor of Santiago, a town of 37,800 people. He was 38 years old and a member of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), which is President Felipe Calderon’s party.  Cavazos was kidnapped from his own home and according to the investigations, members of the municipal police forces were involved in the kidnapping and the killing.

On June 19, Jesús Manuel Lara Rodriguez, mayor of Guadalupe Distrito Bravo in Chihuahua, was also killed near his home. According to news reports, he had received death threats before.

According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, during Calderon’s administration a total of 57 politicians and their relatives have been killed. The total includes public officials, police chiefs, prosecutors and judges. The killers have targeted members of all Mexican political forces.

A few months ago, Fernando Gomez Mont, former Minister of the Interior, warned that organized crime was changing its tactics to focus more on authorities than on their own rivalries. “They are trying to address their firepower to what they are fearful of, which is authority,” he said.

It is difficult to believe that organized crime is fearful of the authorities. They seem to be more concentrated on their strategy to weaken political institutions and to create a widespread atmosphere of fear and terror among citizens.

It looks like they are honing their terrorist strategies, which will only bring more blood and suffering to Mexico. Unfortunately, we still have not reached the bottom of the abyss.

Comments

[El Paso]

I agree. At this point it seems like they are focused on creating an anarchy in the country.

[Pondering]

It sounds like IRAN whereby both of these type of problems have been ongoing for some time only now escalating at an alarming rate in Mexico. It w/b awfully scary to be in a public position there or to even be related - something that most ordinary citizens would be proud of. It's hard to say what it will take to fully address the problems since so many federales are supposedly in on it, too as these violent people treat their own horribly; no wonder they scare and flee. It really rests with the government to put a stop to it. They must fully step in with a strategic plan to begin to effectively address the problem including the full use of their military forces to capture these these monsters that are harming people for sport. It seems that assuring that support with a wide net of direct reinforcement from other countries {if necessary} w/b helpful to round up the bad apples to resolve the violence. From all accounts the folks doing these awful things are drug-related individuals so getting them rounded up in a Mexican prison w/b critical. A reform of some type needs to occur so the people can realize decent wages to live their lives as they deserve. It use to be wages alone that drew the folks to the U.S. but it seems that the need to escape the horrible violence would be a factor too, now.

[Watcher]

Am I the only one in the entire world who finds it peculiar that all this murder and carnage against innocent UN-involved people (to initiate the general "terror" of the population),
......and all mayors and political associates of Calderon,
....began ONLY since Calderon stole the election from the people of Mexico?

How can there NOT be a connection? Too many coincidences.

[Lewis M]

its definitely not an attempt to create anarchy. the drug cartels are seeking control, absolute. Through terrible acts of violence they seek to frighten public figures into supporting more lenient government measures. it seems that simple.

If the US is so worried about drug imports from mexico, and the situation is obviously dire, why do they not volunteer miltary and financial help?