A new mayor takes office in southern Mexico after his predecessor was beheaded

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico (AP) — A new mayor was sworn in Thursday in a southern Mexico city where his predecessor was murdered and beheaded less than a week after taking office.

The new mayor, Gustavo Alarcón, a doctor, had been elected deputy in the June elections on the same ticket as the late mayor Alejandro Arcos.

Arcos took office on October 1 in the violence-ridden city of Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern state of Guerrero. But his decapitated body was found in a pickup truck on Sunday; his head was placed on the roof of the vehicle. Two rival drug gangs fight for control of the city.

Alarcón took the oath of office from a handful of police officers on Thursday with minimal security concerns. He promised to “work for the good of all” and to fight against the violence that has gripped Chilpancingo for years.

Before he was killed, Arcos had told local media he needed more protection, but officials said no formal request had been received. State and federal governments can offer mayors bulletproof vehicles, extra bodyguards and emergency alert systems. It was not clear whether Alarcón had received that kind of protection.

Chilpancingo, a city of about 300,000 residents, is dominated by two warring drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. One organized a demonstration of hundreds of people in 2023, hijacked a government armored car, blocked a major highway and took police hostage to secure the release of arrested suspects.

Earlier this week, federal Public Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said four mayors of other cities in Mexico had asked for protection on Monday, a day after Arcos’ remains were found. The requests came from Guerrero and another violence-ridden state, Guanajuato.

The situation in Guanajuato is so bad that at least four mayoral candidates were killed ahead of the June elections.

But violence in Guerrero reached such unprecedented levels that earlier this year Roman Catholic bishops announced they had helped broker a truce in another part of the state between two warring drug cartels.

At the time, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador – who refused to confront the gangs – said he approved of such talks.

“Priests and ministers and members of all churches participated and helped in pacifying the country. I think it is very good,” said López Obrador, who left office on September 30.

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