Mayoral Candidate, Four Others Killed in Veracruz Attack Ahead of Mexico’s June Election

Gunmen killed a mayoral candidate from Mexico’s ruling Morena party and four others accompanying her in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, The Associated Press reports.

The attack marks the second killing of a local candidate in the state ahead of the June 1 elections.

Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez was leading a caravan of supporters through the town of Texistepec on Sunday when the attack occurred, wounding three additional people. Veracruz Governor Rocío Nahle said during a press conference Monday that Lara Gutiérrez’s daughter was among those killed.

Texistepec, a town of 20,000 residents, is located southwest of the key petroleum hub of Coatzacoalcos.

“No elected position is worth dying for,” Nahle said, pledging justice and promising a strong state presence to ensure safe and democratic elections. “All of the state’s power will be present in coming days so that the elections are free and democratic,” she added.

At a wake in Texistepec on Monday, friends and relatives of Lara Gutiérrez expressed grief and anxiety over the escalating violence surrounding the elections.

“We can’t continue with the insecurity, we’re tired of all of this — this is terrorism,” said supporter Joaquín Fonseca. “There are five people dead, not one. We’re living the worst of the terrorism.”

Cruz Morales, a family friend, described an atmosphere of fear.

“We’re afraid to go into the fields, to go see our family in the evening, because we don’t know what’s going to happen to us on the way,” he said.

Lara Gutiérrez was the second mayoral candidate murdered in Veracruz during this election cycle. On April 29 — the first official day of campaigning — Germán Anuar Valencia, also a Morena candidate, was gunned down at his campaign headquarters in Coxquihui in northern Veracruz.

Governor Nahle said 57 local candidates had requested government-provided security, though it remained unclear whether Lara Gutiérrez was among them.

Veracruz’s 212 municipalities are set to hold elections on June 1. Local candidates are often the most vulnerable to political violence as criminal organizations attempt to assert control over municipal governments.