The mayor of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state in southern Mexico, has been assassinated, Governor Evelyn Salgado and an official from the opposition political alliance said on Sunday. The 43-year-old elected official, who took office six days ago, was decapitated and his head left on the roof of a car, according to the photo of the macabre scene posted several times on social networks .
“I strongly condemn the homicide of the president of the Chilpancingo municipal council, Alejandro Arcos Catalan, which the State Attorney General’s Office confirmed,” Governor Salgado said on X. “His loss mourns the entire society of Guerrero and fills us with indignation,” added the governor of the Movement for National Regeneration (Morena, left) in power.
“They assassinated our mayor of Chilpancingo, Alejandro Arcos, and just three days ago, the secretary of this same town hall, Francisco Tapia. They had been in office for less than a week,” lamented the president of the PRI (opposition), Alejandro Moreno.
The two elected officials do not mention the beheading, which several information sites do such as La Jornada, close to power, or Reforma, very critical of the government in place.
Alejandro Arcos Catalán won the town hall of Chilpancingo (283,354 inhabitants in 2020 according to official figures) in the election on June 2 under the label of the PRI-PRD-PAN opposition alliance. His assassination comes five days after the inauguration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who must present her national security plan on Tuesday.
