Mexican Security Minister Says Beheaded Mayor Didn’t Ask for Protection | Crime news

The Mexican government has revealed new details about the gruesome murder of Mayor Alejandro Arcos, who was found decapitated last weekend.

Arcos’ killing came nearly a week after President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, increasing pressure on her government to curb cartel-related violence in the country.

On Tuesday, Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch told reporters that Arcos, a prominent opposition figure, had not requested security escorts on the day of his killing.

“The mayor went to Petaquillas alone for a meeting,” Garcia Harfuch said, referring to a city in the coastal state of Guerrero.

“We know he went to a specific meeting, he was unaccompanied, communication in the community was lost and the discovery (of his body) was made hours later.”

When pressed by journalists, the minister emphasized that Arcos had not approached either the Ministry of Security or the National Guard for help, despite reports that the mayor had told local media he wanted additional protection.

Garcia Harfuch also underlined that the investigation into Arcos’ death was ongoing. “There is a lot of information on this subject that we need to guard in the interest of the investigation,” he said.

A week in office

Arcos’ death comes less than a week after he took office on September 30 as mayor of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero.

With its isolated mountains and temperate Pacific climate, Guerrero has long been a hub for the production of opium poppies, the main ingredient in heroin.

There are as many as sixteen drug gangs active in the state, vying for control of the lucrative region.

The armed gangs have also openly challenged the local government, especially in 2023.

When two alleged members of the Los Ardillos gang were arrested, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on behalf of the gang to demand their release.

They clashed with National Guard members and police in Chilpancingo, even using an armored vehicle to break through the gates of the state legislature. During the unrest, several officials were taken hostage.

According to Reforma, a Mexican news outlet, Arcos was expected to meet members of the Los Ardillos gang on Sunday, the day of his death.

But images soon emerged on social media showing Arcos’ severed head on top of what appeared to be his pickup truck.

It was the second time in less than a week that a member of the municipal council was found dead. Just three days earlier, Francisco Tapia, another new member of the city council, was shot dead.

Elections marred by violence

On Tuesday, Garcia Harfuch revealed that four other mayors – from Guerrero and another state, Guanajuato – had asked for protection after Arcos’ death.

Mexico has long struggled with political violence as cartels and other gangs try to influence government affairs.

This year, the country held the largest elections in history, with nearly 20,000 public offices up for grabs, including local, state and federal positions.

But the proceedings were marred by violence, with an estimated 37 candidates killed in the run-up to the election, many of whom were seeking local office. In other cases, relatives of candidates were killed in apparent attempts at intimidation.

The violence forced some candidates out of the race. Others were assigned members of the National Guard for protection.

In the aftermath of Arcos’ death, government officials expressed frustration and anger over the ongoing violence.

“I strongly condemn the assassination of the municipal president of Chilpancingo, Alejandro Arcos Catalán,” Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda wrote on social media. “His loss saddens the entire Guerrero society and fills us with indignation.”

Alejandro Moreno, the head of Arcos’ conservative-leaning party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), said on Monday: “We will not allow his death to go unpunished.”

Sheinbaum’s security strategy

As government officials grappled Tuesday with the fallout from Arcos’ death, President Sheinbaum — herself inaugurated on September 30 — unveiled her proposals to strengthen Mexico’s security.

As a member of the left-wing Morena party, she ruled out a return to hardline tactics. “The war on drugs will not return,” she said, citing a controversial initiative led by the United States.

Sheinbaum echoed her predecessor, popular Morena leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in calling for measures that tackle the root causes of crime, such as poverty.

She also asserted that her government would not resort to excessive force to tackle crime. The Mexican military and police have long been accused of committing extrajudicial killings – and even of collaborating with the cartels.

“We are not looking for extrajudicial killings, as happened before,” Sheinbaum said. “What are we going to use? Prevention, attention to the causes, intelligence and (enforcement) presence.”

Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum’s political mentor, was criticized for his “hugs, not bullets” approach to tackling crime – something Sheinbaum himself was accused of embracing during his campaign.