Mexican Anti-Cartel Mayor Assassinated

A mayor in Mexico ’s western state of Michoacan was shot dead in a plaza in front of dozens of people who had gathered for Day of the Dead festivities, authorities said.

Local politicians in Mexico are frequently victims of political and organized crime violence.

The mayor of the Uruapan municipality, Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, was gunned down Saturday night in the town’s historic center. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, according to state prosecutor Carlos Torres Piña.

A city council member and a bodyguard were also injured in the attack.

The attacker was killed at the scene, Federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch told journalists Sunday.

The attack on the mayor was carried out by an unidentified man who shot him seven times, García Harfuch said. The weapon was linked to two armed clashes between rival criminal groups operating in the region, he added.

“No line of investigation is being ruled out to clarify this cowardly act that took the life of the mayor,” García Harfuch said.

Michoacan is one of Mexico’s most violent states and is a battleground among various cartels and criminal groups fighting for control of territory, drug distribution routes and other illicit activities.

A hat worn by Carlos Manzo Rodriguez, who was slain during the Day of the Dead celebrations, sits on his horse at his funeral in Uruapan, Michoacan state, Mexico, on Nov. 2, 2025.

On Sunday, hundreds of Uruapan residents, dressed in black and holding up photographs of Manzo Rodríguez, took to the town’s streets to accompany the funeral procession and bid farewell to the slain mayor.

They chanted “Justice! Justice! Out with Morena!,” a reference to the ruling party of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

In recent months, the Uruapan mayor had publicly appealed to Sheinbaum on social media for help to confront the cartels and criminal groups. He had accused Michoacan’s pro-government governor, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, and the state police of corruption.

At the head of the procession, a man led Manzo Rodríguez’s black horse, with one of the mayor’s signature hats placed on the saddle. A group of musicians, also dressed in black, followed and played mariachi songs.