Mexican mayor murdered days after starting job

7 days ago
Graeme Baker
BBC News

The mayor of a Mexican city plagued by drug violence has been murdered less than a week after taking office.

Alejandro Arcos was found dead on Sunday in Chilpancingo, a city of around 280,000 people in the southwestern state of Guerrero. He had been mayor for six days.

Evelyn Salgado, the state governor, said the city was in mourning over a murder that "fills us with indignation". His death came three days after the city government's new secretary, Francisco Tapia, was shot dead.

Authorities have not released details of the investigation, or suspects. However, Guerrero is one of the worst-affected states for drug violence and drug cartels have murdered dozens of politicians across the country.

Authorities confirmed Arcos's murder after unverified social media images showed what appeared to be his remains.

Arcos's social media posts show that he had spent his days in office supervising disaster relief efforts following Hurricane John last month, which caused severe flooding.

. . .

More than 450,000 people have been murdered and tens of thousands have gone missing across Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006.

More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dj0833g99o

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You may recall George W. Bush was connected to Mexico's Pres. Felipe Calderón to set in motion the militarization of Mexico's drug war. Clearly they did a "heck of a job" together, "didn't they?


Bush Asks Congress for $1.4 Billion to Fight Drugs in Mexico
By James C. McKinley Jr.
Oct. 23, 2007

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 22 — President Bush asked Congress on Monday to approve a $1.4 billion aid package over the next three years to help the Mexican government fight narcotics traffickers, who have unleashed a bloody underworld war that has left more than 4,000 dead across Mexico in the last two years.

The plan calls for the United States to give Mexico $500 million over the next 12 months to provide training for the police and tools to dismantle drug cartels, including helicopters, surveillance planes, drug-sniffing dogs and software to track cases. An additional $50 million would go to Central American countries for the same purposes.

The United States would also provide advisers to help vet police recruits, establish a witness protection program and set up citizen-complaint offices to cut down on the endemic corruption in Mexican police forces, State Department officials said.

Thomas A. Shannon Jr., the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said the initiative was intended to bolster the administration of President Felipe Calderón as it continues an unprecedented crackdown on organized crime.

Since taking office in December, Mr. Calderón has sent tens of thousands of troops into towns once controlled by drug cartels to restore order; extradited several well-known drug kingpins to the United States for prosecution; and stepped up seizures of cocaine, guns and illicit cash. The result has been a violent backlash from criminal organizations.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/world/americas/23mexico.html

Or, for non-subscribers:
https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/world/americas/23mexico.html







George W Bush and Felipe Calderón during the negotiations of the Mérida Initiative.