• On Saturday, Carlos Manzo, mayor of Uruapan, was fatally shot during a Day of the Dead event; he was attacked shortly after 8 p.m. and later died at a hospital, with five gunshots heard in the town square.
• Michoacán’s entrenched cartel violence has long left local officials vulnerable, with Carlos Manzo denouncing the Jalisco New Generation Cartel’s extortion of farmers and urging stronger federal support.
• Police said two suspects were arrested and one alleged attacker was killed at the scene, while a 9-millimeter handgun was recovered and event videos showed people fleeing after gunshots.
• Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla condemned the attack and said two people are detained and one more was killed, while Juan Carlos Oseguera Cortés and the National Guard coordinate security in Uruapan city center.
• Amid a recent wave of targeted killings, local officials remain under threat as Manzo’s killing came days after Bernardo Bravo, Michoacán farmer representative, was also shot dead.

The mayor of Uruapan, a town in the western Mexican state of Michoacán, was shot dead by a man who fired seven shots at Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez while he was attending a Day of the Dead celebration in the town’s main square.

The mayor was taken to hospital, where he later died. A city councillor and a bodyguard were also injured in the attack. Manzo Rodríguez had been under protection since December 2024, and his protection was reinforced in May last year with the deployment of the city police and 14 National Guard officers.

The attack on the mayor was carried out by an unknown man and was captured on video and shared on social media. The footage shows dozens of locals and tourists enjoying the event before multiple shots are fired and people run for cover. Another video shows a person lying on the ground as an officer attempts to resuscitate him.

On Sunday, hundreds of black-clad Uruapan residents took to the streets, holding aloft a photo of Manzo Rodríguez, to attend the funeral. At the head of the procession was a man riding Manzo Rodríguez’s black horse, which was saddled with the mayor’s signature hat. A group of musicians, also dressed in black, followed, playing mariachi songs.

Michoacán is home to some of the most violence in the country, with cartels and criminal groups fighting for control of territory, drug distribution routes and other illegal activities. ( Guardian )