Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa, the mayor of Cotija in western Mexico was assassinated just 24 hours after Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as the Latin American country's first female president. The murder cast a pall over Ms. Sheinbaum's historic inauguration, which had raised hopes for transformative change in the nation.
In a statement on X, the interior ministry of Michoacan state condemned "the murder of the municipal president (mayor) of Cotija, Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa." According to local media reports, Ms. Sanchez, who was elected mayor in 2021, was gunned down on a public road.
Authorities have not provided details on the murder, but they said a security operation has been launched to apprehend the killers.
Ms. Sanchez had previously been kidnapped in September of last year while leaving a shopping mall in the city of Guadalajara in the neighboring state of Jalisco. Three days after her abduction, the federal government announced that she had been found alive. At the time, local media reports suggested that the kidnappers belonged to the powerful Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG), a violent group that allegedly threatened the mayor for opposing their attempts to control her municipality's police force.
Michoacan is renowned for its tourist destinations and thriving agro-export industry, but it is also one of the most violent states in the country due to the presence of extortion and drug trafficking gangs.
