Carlos Manzo, an outspoken critic of organized crime, was shot dead during a public celebration in the town of Urupan.
Mexicans in the western state of Michoacán have demanded justice after the local mayor and an outspoken critic of organized crime were shot dead while in attendance. Day of the Dead Festival In the city of Urupan.
Hundreds of Urupan residents, dressed in black, took to the streets of the city on Sunday to attend the funeral procession of Carlos Manzo and bid farewell to the late mayor.
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They chanted “Justice! Justice! Out with Morena!” chanted, a reference to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s governing party.
Manzo, the mayor of Urupan municipality, was shot dead in the historic center of the city on Saturday night. He was rushed to hospital, where he died. He was 40 years old.
A city council member and a bodyguard were also injured in the attack.
The attacker was killed on the spot, Federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch told reporters on Sunday.
The attack was carried out by an unknown person who fired seven shots at the mayor, Harfuch said. The weapon was linked to two armed encounters between rival criminal groups operating in the region, he added.
“No line of investigation is being ruled out to explain this cowardly act that took the mayor’s life,” Harfuchs said.
‘Vile’ murder
The Mexican president promised justice.
Scheinbaum called an emergency meeting of her security cabinet on Sunday morning, later condemning Manzo’s “barbaric” killing in a statement on X.
“We reaffirm our commitment to deploy all state efforts to achieve peace and security with zero vigilance and full justice,” she wrote.
Manzo has been the mayor of Urupan since September 2024.
Since taking office, Manzo, often seen wearing a bulletproof vest, has called on the federal government to do more to fight organized crime while expressing fears for his safety.
“I don’t want to be another mayor on death row, whose life is taken from him,” Manzo said in an interview with Mexican journalist Joaquín López-Doriga in September.
Urupan is called the avocado capital of Mexico because it is in the heart of the avocado-growing region of Michoacán. Growing demand from the US has led to rapid growth in the industry, making avocado production a target for organized crime groups.
Several politicians and journalists, along with other mayors, have been killed in recent months and years.
“How many mayors did they kill because they opposed making these deals with organized crime?” Manzo asked in a second September interview with Mexico’s Milenio TV. He called on Sheinbaum for stronger public safety measures and said Urupan’s avocado industry valued it before reviewing Mexico’s trade deal with the United States and Canada.
According to Security Minister Harfuch, Manzo was under protection from December 2024, three months after assuming office. Its security was beefed up last May with municipal police and 14 National Guard officers, Harfuchs said.
“The attackers took advantage of the vulnerability of the public program,” Harfuchs said, referring to Manzo’s murder. “Be assured that there will be no punishment.”
US officials also condemned the killing.
“The US stands ready to expand security cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on both sides of the border,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X, sharing a photo of Manzo with his young son before the mayor’s assassination.
Mayor Salvador Bastidas of the Tacambaro municipality in Michoacán was assassinated. In June, Bastidas was murdered along with his bodyguard as he arrived at his home in the city’s Centro neighborhood.
In October 2024, journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís was also shot in Urupán shortly after interviewing Manzo.