Mayoral Candidate Assassinated, Another Wounded in Mexico Amid Election Violence

Ricardo Arizmendi, who was running for mayor in the central Mexican city of Cuautla, was assassinated on Tuesday. Authorities are searching for two suspects who were traveling aboard a motorcycle and opened fire at a market, where a woman was wounded

Just days before Mexico's presidential and local elections, violence erupted as two mayoral candidates were attacked, resulting in one death and several injuries.

Ricardo Arizmendi, a candidate for mayor of Cuautla in the central state of Morelos, was assassinated on Tuesday at a market by two men on a motorcycle. A woman was also wounded in this attack.

In a separate incident, Gilberto Palomar, running for mayor of Encarnación de Díaz in Jalisco, was wounded along with two staffers during a shooting at his home while wrapping up his campaign, according to state security coordinator Ricardo Sánchez.

Gilberto Palomar González, who is running for mayor of Encarnación de Díaz in the western state of Jalisco, survived after he and two staffers were shot at a home on Tuesday

Additionally, Rubén Cruz, a mayoral candidate for Hueypoxtla in the State of Mexico, narrowly escaped harm when gunfire erupted as he arrived home. "Arriving at my home they shot us," Cruz recounted. "We got scared and ran inside."

As of Wednesday, no arrests had been made in connection with the three shootings.

These incidents are part of a broader trend of violence targeting politicians, which has intensified since the election campaign began in September 2023. Official figures indicate that 22 candidates have been murdered during this period, while Integralia, a public affairs consulting firm, reports 34 fatalities.

Rubén Cruz, who is seeking to become mayor of Hueypoxtla in State of Mexico, revealed that four gunmen opened fired on him, staffers and family members as they were approaching his home Monday night. No injuries were reported

The states with the highest number of candidate murders are Chiapas, with eight, Guerrero, with six, and Michoacán, with four. Last week, two candidates in Chiapas survived assassination attempts that resulted in nine deaths.

In a particularly gruesome case, the severed heads of Aníbal Zuñiga, a councilman candidate in Coyuca de Benítez, Guerrero, and his wife, Rubí Bravo, were found on a city street on May 16.

Authorities found the severed head of Aníbal Zuñiga, who was running for councilman of the Guerrero city of Coyuca de Benítez, on May 16 in Acapulco

Due to the escalating violence, at least 100 candidates have either quit their campaigns or decided not to run. In March, 46 candidates from Michoacán and Morelos abandoned their political aspirations after receiving threats from criminal organizations.

Edgardo Buscaglia, a senior scholar at Columbia University and advisor to UN agencies, explained to DailyMail.com that cartels exploit the situation by funding campaigns of candidates willing to turn a blind eye to their activities. "Honest people cannot present themselves for fear of being murdered," Buscaglia said. He noted that this results in criminal networks infiltrating political positions.

Buscaglia emphasized the lack of institutional controls in Mexico to prevent "dirty money" from influencing elections, contrasting it with systems in place in the United States and European Union.