Two candidates for mayor of the city of Maravatio, in central Mexico, were killed just hours apart, according to the Michoacan state attorney's office.
Armando Pérez of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and Miguel Ángel Reyes of the left-wing ruling Morena party were found dead in their personal vehicles with gunshot wounds, the prosecutor said in two separate statements.
Pérez was found on Monday night (26), while Reyes had been found a few hours earlier near the hospital where he worked as a doctor.
Both candidates were expected to run in the June 2 elections.
During a daily press conference on Tuesday (27), Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the deaths were “regrettable.”
PAN and Morena condemned the murders and demanded justice for the candidates.
Political violence usually erupts during election season in Mexico, and this year appears to be the most violent of Obrador's six-year term, according to analysts consulted by CNN .
In January alone, 36 events associated with political-electoral violence occurred, according to data from Data Cívica, a civil association dedicated to data analysis. Eight candidates have been killed since last September, when the current electoral process began, according to a report by Intergralia Consultants.
Criminal gangs are known to finance campaigns during election season, intimidating candidates and intervening violently to force politicians to cooperate with them, the report said, adding that criminal organizations focus their attacks at the municipal level because mayors can offer them impunity in the territory due to its links with police authorities and the local economy.
Mexico's Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said in early February that the government is working to contain violence leading up to the 2024 elections.
On June 2, more than 100 million Mexicans will be called to vote in the general elections, where 20,375 positions will be elected, of which 19,746 are local and 629 are federal, including the presidency.
Source: CNN Brasil
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