Mexico: Mayoral Candidate Shot and Killed on Way From Wake

Mexican authorities are reporting that Jalisco state mayoral candidate, Juan Carlos Andrade, was shot and killed on Sunday.

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“Until now I understand that it was an ambush, but I can not certify it until the staff of the state attorney's office gives me a full report,” general secretary of the Jalisco government, Roberto Lopez, told the media.

Movimiento Ciudadano's Enrique Alfaro also posted to social media to condemned the murder of his colleague while demanding the resignation of governor Aristoteles Sandoval. “Under these conditions, we can not speak of democratic normality, in these conditions we can not speak of a free electoral process.”

Andrade was killed near the Jalisco-Michoacan border, which is a hotbed for organized crime, the 24Martins report stated. He was found, in a vehicle, with multiple gunshot wounds near an interstate highway. According to Proceso, Andrade was returning from a wake when he was pounced upon.

The office of the attorney general of Jalisco is currently investigating the incident.

Andrade, who had registered as a representative of the Movimiento Ciudadano party, was set to make a bid for mayor of Jilotlan de los Dolores – in the south of Jalisco state.

The elections are set for July.

The sitting mayor was seeking re-election following his term which started in 2015. He is the third politician to be killed in the state since December. The two other deceased candidates were from Puebla.

Violence against political representatives has been non-stop in Jalisco municipalities, since 2017. There have been about 5,609 homicides and more than 3,000 people reported missing in 6 years. 

Also at least 80 politicians have been assassinated since Sept. 8 in Mexico, when the electoral process started, and experts consider that these are the most violent elections ever registered in the country.