Female mayor murdered in Mexico after presidential election marred by violence
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, the female mayor of Cotija in western Mexico’s Michoacán state, was shot and killed on Monday, a few hours after the country elected its first female president in a race marred by deadly attacks on candidates.
Figueroa was walking from a gym back to her house with her bodyguard when they were shot by people in a white van, the state attorney general disclosed in a statement.
Both Figueroa and her bodyguard later died in hospital, and an investigation has been launched, the statement added.
Figueroa’s death came less than 24 hours after Claudia Sheinbaum won a landslide victory last Sunday to become the first female president of Mexico, a huge achievement in a country known for its patriarchal culture and widespread femicide.
Widespread violence against politicians loomed large in the election, the bloodiest in Mexico’s history. Dozens of political candidates and applicants were killed by criminal organizations during the campaign season in attempts to influence the vote, according to reporting by CNN.
Sheinbaum will begin her presidency on October 1, replacing outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, her longtime ally whose social welfare programs lifted many Mexicans out of poverty, making their leftist Morena party favorite in the polls.
But she inherits an epidemic of gang-led violence and unsolved disappearances in the country and faces an urgent task to bolster domestic and border security.
Mexico’s homicide rate is among the highest in the world and it remains a dangerous place for women, with figures showing around 10 women are murdered every day.
More than 100,000 people remain missing in the country, with no explanation of their fate. According to the think tank Mexico Evalua, around 95% of all crimes nationwide went unsolved in the country in 2022.
Figueroa had previously been kidnapped in September 2023 in the city of Zapopan, and was released three days later. Three men were arrested and charged with her kidnapping.
Local authorities, including the government of Michoacán, condemned the deadly attack on the mayor and her bodyguard.
“A security operation coordinated with federal agencies has been deployed to find those responsible for the incident,” the state’s Ministry of Public Security said.
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