Mexican Mayor Carlos Manzo was assassinated while celebrating Day of the Dead festivities in Uruapan in Michoacán state on Saturday night, Nov.1.
Manzo, a prominent figure in the region and a popular mayor, attended the public event with his wife and young son. Cell phone footage and pictures capture Manzo mingling with attendees while holding his son, and accompanied by his wife, moments before the killing.
Suddenly, six shots ring out in the background and Manzo dies at the scene.
Carlos Manzo was elected municipal president of Uruapan in September 2024 and became an outspoken critic of the federal government’s inaction against the violent drug cartels that have operated with impunity in the western state of Michoacán.
Manzo launched public broadcasts in which he would criticize the federal government’s mismanagement of violent crime in the region, and was an outspoken opponent to public corruption in the country.
Becoming a critic of organized crime and corruption in Mexico will often lend oneself as the target of other politicians, or the very crime groups that control them.
Last month, the mayor of Pisaflores, Miguel Bahena, was also gunned down by hitmen on a city street.
Carlos Manzo would often accompany his security officers in Uruapan and patrol the local communities in a bulletproof vest, displaying an air of courage to other residents in the face of the always present shadows of the cartels.
Manzo was even likened to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and his strong-on-crime tactics, and was dubbed the “Bukele of Mexico” by supporters.
The former mayor was the expected challenger of current President Claudia Sheinbaum for the leader of the left-wing MORENA party in the 2030 presidential elections.
Omar Hamid García Harfuch, Mexico Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of Mexico, condemned the attack, stating to reporters, “Unfortunately, the attackers took advantage of the vulnerability of a public event to carry out the attack. We strongly condemn this crime and are certain that there will be no impunity.”
The security ministry also stated that two individuals were involved in the assassination, and “one of the assailants lost his life.”
