Mexico aspiring councilor and his wife murdered in Acapulco

In Mexico, a local politician and his wife are murdered in its Pacific coastal resort of Acapulco, his party said Friday, May 17, 2024. They are the latest victims of a wave of electoral violence in the country. INQUIRER FILES/STOCK IMAGE

MEXICO CITY — A local politician and his wife were murdered in Mexico’s Pacific coastal resort of Acapulco, his party said Friday – the latest victims of a wave of electoral violence.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) said Anibal Zuniga was standing in the June 2 elections to be a councilor in the municipality of Coyuca de Benitez in Guerrero state.

The local prosecutor’s office said it had opened a homicide investigation.

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According to Mexican media, the couple’s dismembered bodies were found in bags in an abandoned vehicle.

The husband and wife were “cowardly murdered,” said the PRI branch in Guerrero, a violence-plagued southern state rife with organized crime.

Mexican politicians often fall victim to bloodshed connected to corruption and the drug trade, particularly those running for local office.

READ: Mayoral candidate murdered in Mexico amid rising political violence

On Thursday night, Lucero Lopez Maza, a 28-year-old aspiring town mayor in the southern state of Chiapas, was shot dead along with five other people including a minor, the local prosecutor’s office said.

As of May 1, 26 candidates had been killed since the electoral process began on September 23, according to a count by the civil organization Data Civica.