Mexican mayoral candidate executed at campaign event days after ruling political party requested security in latest murder of politician before election

A mayoral candidate was shot at a campaign event in the north-central Mexican state of Guanajuato, just hours after she requested security protection.

Gisela Gaytán was walking in the street on Monday afternoon, the second day of her campaign for mayor of Celaya, when armed men approached her on two motorcycles and opened fire before fleeing.

Footage taken by a bystander showed at least two injured men in the street, while Gaytán lay face down in a pool of blood. Another woman, who appeared to have been shot, was found sitting on the floor of a store.

A spokesperson for the Guanajuato attorney general’s office told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that no arrests had been made.

Hours before the shooting, Gaytán announced on Facebook that he had met with entrepreneurs from a local market to declare that changes were coming for Celaya, which in 2023 was the most dangerous city in the world with 109.4 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

“Together, with determination and dedication, we will make the change we desire a reality,” she said. “We want a Celaya where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, we want transformation.”

Gaytán, who was under the ruling Morena party, apparently had an uphill battle in a municipality where the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel exerted its control, killing Mayor Javier Mendoza’s son in August 2022.

Law enforcement sources told Mexican news channel Milenio that the attack took place in a part of the city influenced by the criminal organization.

Security analyst David Saucedo told the newspaper that Gaytán had been threatened in the past by the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel for refusing to join them.

Authorities have recovered one of the two motorcycles and are investigating whether the shell casings match those of others recovered in previous criminal incidents.

Adrián Guerrero, a Morena candidate for the Celaya municipal council, was initially reported dead by Federal Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez on Tuesday, but he was found safe at the public prosecutor’s office in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the shooting during his daily press conference on Tuesday.

“These events are very regrettable, because these are people who are fighting to defend democracy, they are on the streets, face to face,” López Obrador said.

The killing was the latest in the increasingly bloody run-up to Mexico’s June 2 elections.

At least fifteen candidates have been murdered since the start of 2024 – and expressions of regret have become routine.

Diego Pérez, the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s candidate for mayor of the southern city of San Juan Cancuc, was found shot dead and tortured on March 14. His wife and son were injured.

Tomás Morales, who under Morena aspired to become mayor of the city of Chilapa on the Pacific coast, was executed in front of his home on March 12.

At least 34 candidates have quit their careers in the western state of Michoacán, according to data released March 25 by the state electoral board and political parties.

Another twelve dropped out of the mayoral and municipal council races in the central state of Morelos last Tuesday.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Gaytán’s killing, but Mexico’s drug cartels have often targeted assassination attempts at mayors and mayoral candidates, in an effort to control local police or extort money from municipal governments.

López Obrador acknowledged that drug cartels often try to determine who will become mayor – either by appointing their own candidate or by eliminating potential rivals.

“They make an appointment and say, ‘This person is going to be mayor; we don’t want anyone else to sign up to participate, and anyone who does knows what to expect, the president said.

The recent killings have prompted the government to provide bodyguards or bulletproof cars for some, but candidates for municipal positions – although the most endangered – are last in line for security.

Morena’s party leadership issued a statement calling the killing “cowardly” and calling for an investigation.

Rodríguez, the federal security secretary, said Tuesday that the government has committed to responding to protection requests within 72 hours. She said more than 100 candidates across the country have requested protection.

Guanajuato has had the highest murder rate of any state in Mexico for some time.

Celaya is perhaps the most dangerous place, per capita, to be a police officer in North America. At least 34 police officers have been killed in this city of 500,000 in the past three years.

Guanajuato, with a population of just over 6 million, recorded 60 police killings in 2023.

The state has been plagued for years by violent battles between the Jalisco drug cartel and the homegrown Santa Rosa de Lima cartel.

Violence against politicians is widespread in Mexico.

This weekend, Guillermo Torres, the mayor of Churumuco, a city in the neighboring state of Michoacán, was shot dead in a taco restaurant in the capital Morelia.

In late February, two mayoral candidates were shot dead within hours of each other in another city in Michoacán.