Mexican Politician Braulio Zaragoza Killed in Acapulco
The week after a Mexican congressman was murdered, a regional politician was killed by gunmen on Sunday at a hotel restaurant in Acapulco.
Braulio Zaragoza was in the midst of a meeting with other politicians when three gunmen walked up to the table and put multiple shots into his back, according to a report from the BBC. Zaragoza died before paramedics got to him.
Zaragoza was the leader of the conservative National Action Party in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.
He is believed to have been killed by one of the drug cartels in the area. The police said they have launched an investigation but haven't made any arrests. Several politicians have been targeted by cartels in the area.
The attorney general said in a statement that he will investigate the murder. The president of Zaragoza's party, Gustavo Madero, also requested a deep investigation. "The atmosphere of insecurity and impunity experienced in Mexico" can not be tolerated, he said.
Zaragoza's murder comes just days after congressman Gabriel Gomez and his aide were found dead in a burned-out sport utility vehicle, Reuters reported last week. Gomez and his aide were kidnapped last Monday in Guadalajara.
Gomez was the highest-profile politician to be murdered in Mexico in recent years. The cartels in Mexico used to murder politicians more regularly when they had more power. The last national politician killed prior to Gomez was Rodolfo Torre, a gubernatorial candidate, who was killed in 2010.
Acapulco has long been known as a tourist hotspot on the Mexican coast, but it has seen a heavy dose of violence from the drug cartels.
About 90,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since former Mexican President Felipe Calderon brought in the military in 2006 to combat warring drug cartels.
Under President Enrique Pena Nieto, the murder rate in Mexico is down, but other gang crimes, like kidnappings and extortion, have increased.
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