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.
READ: Mexican mayoral candidate stabbed to death
According to Mexican media, the couple’s dismembered bodies were found in bags in an abandoned vehicle.
Article continues after this advertisementThe husband and wife were “cowardly murdered,” said the PRI branch in Guerrero, a violence-plagued southern state rife with organized crime.
Article continues after this advertisementMexican 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.
