Mexico: Mayoral candidate Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez assassinated during campaign rally

Mexico: Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez, a mayoral candidate from Mexico’s ruling Morena party was shot dead during a campaign event in Texistepec, Veracruz. The attack took place on Sunday night and claimed the lives of three others including her daughter and injured three others.  

As per reports, the assailants arrived on motorcycles and opened fire on Lara Gutiérrez and her supporters. In moments, the cheerful political rally, turned into terror and nightmare with chaos. The incident was even captured on a Facebook live stream, which showed the candidate engaging with the residents before she was shot dead.  

President holds press conference to address the incident 

President Claudia Sheinbaum passed a statement on the incident through a press conference held Monday morning. She stated that there is no information yet about the motive of the shooting. She continued adding that her government is coordinating with Veracruz state officials to ensure proper investigation. 

Veracruz Governor Rocio Nahle condemned the attack and highlighted it as an act of terrorism and vowed to implement measures to safeguard the democracy of the nation. She highlighted that following this shocking incident, 57 candidates have requested protection, however no official decision has been taken over it yet.  

Notably, election campaigns across Mexico are going on at full pace for the upcoming elections on June 1. however, the recent assassination of Mayor Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez has once again sparked concerns among locals of election integrity and safety.  

Previous attacks on political leaders  

Such attacks on political leaders are much common in Mexico, especially during the election period, which highlights the rising crime in the country and a weak rule of law. As per reports released by a local human rights organisation, Data Civica, Mexico reported 661 attacks on people and facilities. The data revealed that the candidates involved were either running for or already held municipal level positions.  

Last year, a similar incident took place where a mayor was killed in an election campaign in Guerrero and a video of the alleged incident was captured on camera. Mayor of Guerrero’s capital Chilpancingo was also killed just days after he presumed office.  

This highlights the struggling political system and democracy of the country, which is a result of the growing influence of crime.