MEXICO CITY (AP) – The mayor of the capital of a southern Mexican state has been killed just a week after taking office, officials said Sunday.
Alejandro Arcos was sworn in last Monday as the mayor of Chilpancingo, a city so violent that a drug gang went public and staged a protest, hijacked an armored government vehicle and kidnapped the police in 2023 to win the release of arrested suspects.
Chilpancingo is the capital of the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located.
The federal prosecutor’s office released a statement Sunday confirming that Arcos had been killed, but did not provide details.
Alejandro Moreno, the national leader of the Institutional Revolution Party, or PRI, lamented the killing of Arcos and said the newly appointed secretary of the city council was also killed three days ago.
“They were in the office for less than a week,” Moreno wrote on his social media accounts. “They were young and honest public servants who wanted development for their community.”
Chilpancingo has long been the scene of bloody battles between two drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. The war resulted in a series of gruesome massacres and high-profile scandals.
The former mayor was caught on video holding a meeting with gang leaders at a restaurant. He was then kicked out of his team.
In July 2023, government officials said that a protest held by hundreds of people in Chilpancingo that month was organized by the Ardillos gang to free two gang leaders who were arrested for drugs and weapons.
Protesters largely blocked the highway between Mexico City and Acapulco for two days, clashed with security forces and took control of an armored police truck and used it to storm the gates of the state legislature building.
The protesters kidnapped 10 members of the state police and the National Guard, as well as three state and federal officials, and held them hostage to fulfill their demands before releasing them.