A Mexican mayor who referred to as for “brute pressure” in opposition to the nation's violent drug cartels was gunned down in public Saturday night time throughout “Day of the Lifeless” celebrations in his hometown.
Carlos Manzo, 40, the firebrand mayor of Uruapan in Mexico's Michoacan province, was shot useless by two gunmen in entrance of shocked supporters within the metropolis's central sq., the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I condemn within the strongest potential phrases the vile assassination of the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo,” Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X. “I specific my deepest condolences to his household and family members, in addition to to the folks of Uruapan, for this irreparable loss.”
Safety guide David Saucedo described the brazen assassination as a “kamikaze assault.”
Manzo gained fame as head of the town of 300,000 when he stood as much as the bloody cartels which have terrorized Mexico for many years — and acknowledged the danger he was taking.
“I don't need to be simply one other murdered mayor,” he stated in a haunting assertion final month. “However it is vital to not let worry management us.”
His assassination sparked outrage in Mexico Metropolis in addition to in Washington, DC.
“On this All Souls' Day, my ideas are with the household and associates of Carlos Manzo, mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico, who was assassinated at a public Day of the Lifeless celebration final night time,” US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, a former ambassador to Mexico, wrote on X.
“The US stands able to deepen safety cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on each side of the border,” he stated. “Right here's Carlos holding his younger son on the celebration simply moments earlier than the assault. Could his soul relaxation in peace and will his reminiscence encourage immediate and efficient motion.”
Manzo got here up in Mexican politics with Sheinbaum's Morena Occasion earlier than declaring himself impartial, and was crucial of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's “hugs not bullets” method to the vicious narcotraffickers in ravaging the Central American nation.
Manzo, the son of a group activist who was elected into workplace final yr, has additionally referred to as on Sheinbaum to take a tougher line in opposition to the cartels.
The mayor was accompanied by nationwide guard troops on the occasion, however they had been unable to save lots of him.
