ALBAWABA - A mayor of a western Mexican town was killed, less than 24 hours after the country elected its first-ever female president Claudia Sheinbaum.
Regional Interior Ministry released a statement citing the Michoacan state government condemning "the murder of the municipal president (mayor) of Cotija, Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa".
The assassination of the female mayor comes after Sheinbaum's overwhelming win instilled optimism for reform in a country plagued by widespread gender-based violence.
Sanchez, who was elected mayor in the 2021 elections, was shot dead on a public road, according to local media. Authorities have not provided any additional information about the murder, but they have stated that a security operation has been begun to catch the assailants.
The lawmaker was previously abducted in September last year while leaving a shopping center in Guadalajara, Jalisco, a neighboring state to Michoacan. Three days later, the federal authorities said that she had been found alive, and returned home safely.
At the time, local media reports said the kidnappers were from the notorious Jalisco Cartel - New Generation (CJNG), and they allegedly threatened the mayor for resisting the criminal group's control of her municipality's police force.
