Chilpancingo mayor beheaded

Mexican mayor beheaded

After the slaying of Chilpancingo’s newly elected mayor, Mexican mayors ask for extra protection

Alejandro Arcos Catalán, who took office as Mayor of Chilpancingo on 30 September 2024, was brutally murdered six days later

October 2024: After the beheading of Alejandro Arcos Catalán, the newly elected mayor of Chilpancingo, the state capital of Guerrero, mayors from two violence-plagued states have asked Mexico’s federal authorities for protection. Guerrero, less than 300 kilometres south of Mexico City and Guanajuato, 400 kilometres to the north of the country’s capital city, are known for their high level of violence. The situation in Guanajuato is so bad that ahead of Mexico’s June general elections, at least four mayoral candidates were killed.

A Mexico’s Ministry for Public Safety spokesman confirmed yesterday (8 October 2024) that four mayors had asked for additional protection. For security reasons, the ministry would not give any details. But the spokesman added that Alejandro Arcos Catalán had not formally requested federal protection. State and federal governments can offer mayors bulletproof vehicles, additional bodyguards and emergency alert systems.

According to news reports, on the day of his killing (6 October 2024), Alejandro Arcos drove to an unspecified meeting without any members of his staff. Photos of the crime scene shared on social media showed that Mayor Arcos’ severed head had been left on the roof of a pickup truck.

Days before Alejandro Arcos Catalán took office, a group of armed men gunned down his intended director of security, a former head of the special forces unit of the Guerrero police. And last Thursday (3 October 2024), the City Council’s secretary general was shot and killed in broad daylight.

In an article, The New York Times wrote: “Mr. Arcos Catalán’s case is so far the most gruesome killing of a Mexican politician since the inauguration of President Claudia Sheinbaum last week. It brought back memories of the tactics used in the darkest days of Mexico’s drug war when criminals publicly displayed dismembered bodies to terrorise the population.”

Before Mexico’s general election, The New York Times also reported that Alejandro Arcos replaced Norma Otilia Hernández, the previous mayor, after it was revealed that she met with local criminal groups. Ms Hernández later acknowledged the encounter, which she called ‘fortuitous’ and said she was the victim of political persecution. Asked in July whether he would make deals with local cartels, Arcos Catalán told reporters: “Of course not.”

In June 2024, Women Mayors reported the killing of Mayor Yolanda Sánchez, who was shot dead in broad daylight and described the female mayor of Cotija as the latest victim of Mexico’s deadly gang violence.

In a public address following the killing of the Chilpancingo mayor, Mexico’s new President, Claudia Sheinbaum, did not offer any new strategies to tackle organised crime and violence. Instead, she confirmed she would continue her predecessor’s measures that address the root causes of crime, like poverty. “We are not looking for extrajudicial executions, which is what was happening before,” Sheinbaum said. “What are we going to use? Prevention, attention to the causes, intelligence and [law enforcement] presence.”

Lopez Obrador, Mexico’s previous president, had been criticised for his ‘hugs, not bullets’ approach to tackling crime - something Sheinbaum herself was accused of embracing during the election campaign.

Women mayors in Guanajuato and Guerrero

Irapuato, Estado de Guanajuato

Popl: 592,000

Mayor Lorena del Carmen Alfaro García

Party / Politics: Coalition: PAN, PRI, PRD

León, Estado de Guanajuato

Popl: 1,700,000

Mayor Alejandra Gutiérrez Campos

Party / Politics: PAN

Silao, Estado de Guanajuato

Popl: 203,000

Mayor Janet Melanie Murillo Chavez

Party / Politics: PAN

Acapulco, Estado de Guerrero

Popl: 3,540,000

Mayor Abelina López Ródriguez

Party / Politics: Coalition: MORENA, Green Party, Labour Party