Another day and another politician shot dead in Mexico

By Silvio Canto, Jr.

As more women enter politics in Mexico. more women get killed by criminal elements intimidating office seekers.

A candidate for mayor of a violence-wracked city in Mexico has been killed just as she began campaigning, marking yet another politician to be shot dead in the country in recent weeks.

Two authorities in the north-central state of Guanajuato said candidate Bertha Gisela Gaytán Gutiérrez was shot to death on a street in a town just outside the city of Celaya. Mayorships in Mexico often included smaller surrounding communities. The authorities were not authorized to be quoted by name.

So another politician is down. In fact, she makes it 14 since the start of 2024. Elections are two months away, so more may be added to the list.

Once upon a short time ago, Guanajuato was a lovely town mere driving distance from Guadalajara. I remember visiting the area and enjoying its colonial look. Driving around was a delight with so many opportunities for photos and spectacular scenery.

A street in Guanajuato, Mexico. — A street in Guanajuato, Mexico, by Ed (Ed Fladung) on Flickr // CC BY-ND 2.0

Today, the situation is different as the article points out:

Guanajuato has for some time had the highest number of homicides of any state in Mexico, and Celaya is arguably 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 people in the last three years.

In Guanajuato state, with its population just over 6 million, more police were shot to death in 2023 - about 60 - than in all of the United States.

What a shame, but that's reality.

As more than one Mexican friend has told me, the intimidation campaign against mayors and state officials is part of the plan. The criminal elements want to send a message that you are with us or you will be killed. They would rather take on mayors and small town police chiefs because they are better armed than the locals.

Mexico is in deep trouble when a lovely place like Guanajuato is out of control.

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Image: Ed (Ed Fladung), via Flickr // CC BY-ND 2.0