Mexico City: Four mayors in Mexico asked federal authorities for protection after a colleague was beheaded last week in the southern state of Guerrero, officials said Tuesday. Mayor Alejandro Arcos had taken office less than a week earlier.
Federal Public Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said four mayors requested protection on Monday, a day after Arcos’ remains were found. The requests came from Guerrero and another violence-plagued state, Guanajuato.
The situation in Guanajuato is so bad that before the country’s June elections, at least four mayoral candidates were murdered.
García Harfuch did not say why the mayors asked for protection. He also did not provide many details about the investigations into Arcos’ murder, saying only that the mayor had left his staff to attend a private meeting just before his death.
Arcos had told local media that he needed more protection, but García Harfuch said no formal request had been received. State and federal governments can offer mayors bulletproof vehicles, additional bodyguards and emergency alert systems.
The state capital, Chilpancingo, is dominated by two warring drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. One of them organized a demonstration of hundreds of people, hijacked a government armored vehicle, blocked a major highway, and took police hostage in 2023 to secure the release of arrested suspects.
Gangs and drug cartels in Mexico frequently attack mayors to demand extortion payments, government contracts and the appointment of henchmen to municipal police forces.
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