RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Friday night, gunmen shot at the house of a candidate for the municipal presidency of Puerro Morelos in the Mexican Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, an attack that left two people wounded, local authorities reported on Saturday.
The attack occurred against the house of Blanca Merari Tziu Muñoz, who replaced her husband, Ignacio Sánchez Cordero, in the candidacy, after his assassination on February 24.
According to reports, around 10 PM local time on Friday, a shooting attack was reported in Leona Vicario, 40 kilometers from Cancún. A confrontation took place between a group of hired killers and the bodyguards assigned to protect the candidate.
At the time of the attack, the woman was inside the house with her daughters and other family members, which prevented the criminals from entering the house.
“My family and I are fine, shocked by the situation, but unharmed and united. We are all in solidarity and united in prayer for the two people who were injured, who were only fulfilling the order to provide us with protection,” Tziu Muñoz posted on his social networks.
The two bodyguards were taken to the General Hospital of Cancún, where they are reported to be in serious condition; one belongs to the National Guard, and the other is a ministerial agent of the State Attorney General’s Office.
The attack took place hours after a series of proceedings carried out by the State Attorney General’s Office related to the murder of Ignacio Sanchez Cordero, among them the arrest of the sister of another candidate who is also seeking the same position.
Although no official data has been released by the Attorney General’s Office, through a press release distributed by the campaign team of Yazmin Vivas Medina -candidate of the Social Encounter Party for the municipal presidency in Puerto Morelos- the arrest of a woman by the name of Karla was confirmed.
“This noon, my sister Karla Vivas Medina was detained by the Ministerial Police for allegedly carrying a firearm. However, we are informed that they are now trying to link her to the murder of Sanchez Cordero, a former public official of Puerto Morelos,” reads Vivas Medina’s statement.
The first attack against Blanca Merari Tziu Muñoz took place on May 5, also in Puerto Morelos, where a campaign event had been scheduled but was suspended minutes before starting due to an armed confrontation between municipal police who were guarding the perimeter of the walk with heavily armed individuals traveling in a pick-up truck.
Political-electoral violence has intensified in the final stretch of the campaign for the mid-term elections, the largest in the country’s history, with the murder of a female candidate and the kidnapping and attempt on two other candidates between Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to the consulting firm Etellekt, at least 89 politicians have been murdered during the current electoral process that began last September, 35 of which were candidates or candidates.
Mexico will have the largest elections in its history next June 6, when almost 93.5 million are eligible to vote for 500 federal deputies, 15 of 32 state governors, 30 local congresses, and 1,900 city councils.