The female mayor of Cotija town in Mexico, Yolanda Sanchez has been killed by gunmen. She was shot after she was ambushed by gunmen in the centre of Cotija, Michoacán. Reports say she was shot 19 times and died in the hospital shortly after the attack. Her bodyguard was also killed.
Her death comes less than a day after Mexico’s first female president was elected. An election that was overshadowed by widespread violence.
Sanchez had governed Cotija since September 2021 and had reportedly received death threats after taking up office in September 2021.
In 2023, she was held for three days by armed men who had seized her at gunpoint during a visit to the neighbouring state of Jalisco. The politician said that her kidnappers had made “demands” and inflicted “psychological terror” before releasing her. She said that she did not know what criminal group they belonged to, but local newspapers said the most likely culprits where the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG).
The CJNG engages in drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom and extortion.
They also target public officials who refuse to do its bidding.
Ms Sánchez had said the men who had threatened her after she had taken office demanded that she hand the security of the town over to state police officers in the pay of organised crime groups. After the incident, she was provided with armed bodyguards.
Although no arrests have been made so far in connection with the attack, it is widely thought that the gunmen belonged to an organised crime group.
Melissa Enoch
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