Mexican local mayor went alone to meeting before his brutal killing

9/10/2024 6:15

        The mayor of Chilpancingo, the capital of Mexico's violence-plagued state of Guerrero, traveled alone to an out-of-town meeting before he was killed, Mexico's security minister said on Tuesday about a murder which has shocked the country.
        
        Alejandro Arcos, of Mexico's main opposition alliance, had only taken office six days earlier. Photos circulated on Sunday via WhatsApp and in Mexican media outlets depicting a severed head on top of a pick-up truck, appearing to be that of Arcos. The gruesome act happened just days before new President Claudia Sheinbaum unveiled her security strategy aimed at combating violent crime.
        
        Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said in a news conference that an investigation had determined Arcos left Chilpancingo in his pickup truck without a driver or escort heading toward the nearby town of Petaquillas.
        
        Arcos had not requested security protection from the federal government, Garcia Harfuch said.