Mayor was reportedly beheaded days after taking office in Mexico amid a rise in cartel violence

The mayor of a city in southern Mexico has been killed less than a week after taking office, authorities said Sunday, the latest in a series of attacks on politicians in the violence-wracked Latin American country.

The killing of Chilpancingo Mayor Alejandro Arcos “fills us with outrage,” Guerrero state Governor Evelyn Salgado wrote on social media, without providing further details on the circumstances.

Local media reported that Arcos had been beheaded, but there has been no official confirmation.

Reuters reported that photos circulating on WhatsApp showed a severed head on top of what appeared to be Arcos’ vehicle, but the news agency could not independently verify the authenticity of the photos.

Arcos was elected in June as a representative of an opposition coalition that also included the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which denounced his killing as a “cowardly crime” and called for justice.

“Enough violence and impunity! The people of Guerrero do not deserve to live in fear,” X said.

According to PRI President Alejandro Moreno, his killing came just days after the murder of another city official, Francisco Tapia.

“They had been in office for less than a week. Young and honest civil servants who sought progress for their community,” Moreno said on X.

Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states, has endured years of violence linked to wars between cartels battling for control over drug production and trafficking.

Last year, 1,890 murders were recorded in the state, home to the seaside resort Acapulcoa former playground of the rich and famous, now plagued by crime. Guerrero is one of six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to avoid entirely, citing crime and violence.

More than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have gone missing across Mexico in a spiral of violence since the government deployed the military to combat drug trafficking in 2006.

Politicians, especially at the local level, are common become victims of bloodshed linked to corruption and the multi-billion dollar drug trade.

Tackling the cartel violence that makes murder and kidnapping an everyday occurrence in Mexico is one of the greatest challenges we face Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president.

Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City who was sworn in on October 1, has pledged to stick to her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s “hugs instead of bullets” strategy of using social policies to reduce crime. tackle the roots.

She will unveil her safety plan on Tuesday.

At least 24 politicians were murdered During a particularly violent electoral process in the run-up to the June elections, the ruling party’s main figure won by a landslide, according to official figures.

In June, at least three politicians were murdered in Guerrero. Acacio Floreswho represents Malinaltepec, was murdered just days after the murder murder of Salvador Villalba Floresanother mayor from the state of Guerrero was elected in the June 2 elections. Earlier this month, a local alderman was shot as she left her home in Guerrero.

Her murder came a few days after the mayor of a city in western Mexico and her bodyguard were murdered killed outside a gymjust hours after Sheinbaum won the presidency.