Mexico Elections: Yet Another Mayoral Candidate Killed, 16th Candidate Death as June 16 Vote Approaches

The Mexico election campaign period is officially underway and while the spotlight is on the presidential election, yet another local candidate has been killed as election violence continues, which many say should also be in the spotlight as more local candidates get killed.

Noe Ramos Ferretiz, who is running under the banner of the coalition between the opposition National Action Party and the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was the incumbent mayor of Ciudad Mante in the northern border state of Tamaulipas. However, he was attacked and killed on Friday, becoming the 16th candidate killed in the run-up to the upcoming election.

According to the Associated Press, local media reports indicated that Ramos Ferretiz was stabbed and the perpetrators posted photos showing a bloodied body lying on a sidewalk soon after the attack.

The attack happened in Tamaulipas, which is a city plagued by warring drug cartels vying for control of the drug trafficking routes into the United States. However, it is noted that Ciudad Mante is located in the southern part of the state and is far from the epicenter of the state's drug violence, which are the state's border cities like Reynosa and Matamoros.

PRI party leader Alejandro Moreno reacted to the death of their candidate, posting on social media, "We will not allow violence to decide these elections."

There have been so many local candidates that have been killed since the start of 2024 that it has become routine for many. The people behind most of these attacks and deaths are the drug cartels who often target mayors and mayoral candidates in order to control local police or extort money from municipal governments.

Even President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has acknowledged the violence happening all over Mexico as drug cartels seek to determine who would become a town's mayor either by "running their own candidate or eliminating potential rivals."

Mexico Bishops Decry Election Violence

With more and more local candidates getting killed in an alarming rise in election violence, the Mexican Bishops' Conference issued a warning to its flock against the possible interference of criminal violence.

The bishops lamented "a pact among organized crime and criminal groups to pretend to organize peaceful elections" before calling for peaceful electoral campaigns. They also called on citizens to avoid "apathy, indifference, and abstentionism."

"The conditions the country is going through are unfortunately not the best, as it is evident that, for some time now, we have had many problems in terms of security, social inequality, economic growth, lack of formal and decent jobs, coverage and quality of education and health, migration, social polarization, and other issues," noted the bishops.

How Leading Candidates Plan to Tackle Mexico Violence as They Campaign for the Presidency

Under AMLO, many have slammed his government for the failure of his "hugs, not bullets" approach, yet he remains popular with the majority of Mexicans. The people running to succeed him may change things.

Leading opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez has stated that she plans to deal with violence, which is the leading election concern for Mexican voters, according to polls. Meanwhile, administration candidate Claudia Sheinbaum is taking a different approach, according to Foreign Policy, criticizing her "mentor," AMLO, and saying she believes Mexico needs a change.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Mayoral candidate murdered in Mexico amid rising political violence | The World - ABC News (Australia)