The Mexican bishops’ conference has condemned the murder of a mayor who was assassinated after pleading for federal assistance in combating drug cartels. Source: OSV News.
The cartels extort avocado growers in his municipality in western Michoacán state.
Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, was shot dead at a candle-lighting ceremony for Day of the Dead on November 1.
Mr Manzo was shot seven times, according to Mexico’s public security secretary, Omar García Harfuch, while photos from the event in the town square showed him holding his young son in his arms. Two suspects were arrested in the case, Mr García Harfuch added.
Mr Manzo’s slaying “adds to a series of murders of people who have dared to speak out and confront the absence of the rule of law in their communities, businesses and other spaces. Today, it is no longer enough to apprehend the killer: We must resolutely combat the root causes of all these murders,” the bishops’ conference said in a November 2 statement.
“The ordinary presence of armed groups, which control the public life of citizens in various regions of the country, is the real crime to be faced: the roadblocks, the dispossession of lands, the constant threats to producers, merchants and rulers reflect a serious weakening of the constitutional order that the governments at the municipal, state and federal levels, are obligated to guarantee.”
The brazen murder sparked outrage in Mexico, where drug cartel violence has plagued swaths of the country for nearly two decades.
The violence has especially plagued Michoacán, which has a long history of marijuana growing. But analysts say that now criminal groups extort the growers of avocados and limes, illegally log forests and import chemical precursors for synthetic drugs through the port of Lázaro Cárdenas.
Mr Manzo became known for accompanying police as they patrolled Uruapan. He spoke out against organised crime and urged President Claudia Sheinbaum to take action.
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Mexican church leaders demand action after mayor murdered (By David Agren, OSV News)
