Mexican mayor murdered less than a week after taking office

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The mayor of a state capital in southern Mexico has been killed just one week after he took office, officials said Sunday.

Alejandro Arcos was sworn in last Monday as mayor of Chilpancingo, a city so violent that a drug gang openly staged a demonstration, hijacked a government armored car and took police hostage in 2023 to win the release of arrested suspects.

Chilpancingo is the capital of Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located.

The state prosecutors’ office issued a statement Sunday confirming Arcos had been killed, but provided no details.

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Alejandro Moreno, the national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, lamented Arcos’ killing and said the newly installed secretary of the city council had also been murdered three days earlier.

“They had been in office less than a week,” Moreno wrote on his social media accounts. “They were young and honest public servants who were seeking progress for their community.”

Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos place candles and flowers at the entrance of the municipal building one week after he took office in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)

Chilpancingo has long been the scene of bloody turf battles between two drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. The battle has resulted in dozens of gruesome killings and some high-profile scandals.

A previous mayor was caught on video apparently holding a meeting with leaders of one of the gangs at a restaurant. She was subsequently expelled from her party.

In July 2023, federal officials said a demonstration held by hundreds of people in Chilpancingo that month had been organized by the Ardillos gang to win the release of two gang leaders arrested for drugs and weapons possession.

The demonstrators largely blocked all traffic on the highway between Mexico City and Acapulco for two days, battled security forces and commandeered a police armored truck and used it to ram down the gates of the state legislature building.

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The demonstrators abducted 10 members of the state police and National Guard, as well as three state and federal officials, and held them hostage to enforce their demands before releasing them.