Mexican mayor and aide murdered by drug cartel. |
MORELIA, Mexico -- The mayor of the Mexican town of Tancitaro and his aide were found stoned to death Monday on a dirt road in the drug-plagued state of Michoacan.
29-year-old Mayor Gustavo Sanchez was the fifth city leader to be killed in Mexico since mid-August.
His aide, 36-year-old Rafael Equihua Cervantes was also found in the back of the abandoned truck.
Sanchez was not known to have a party affiliation and was a teacher by training before taking the helm of the town of 5,500.
Last year the city council chief, Gonzalo Paz, was kidnapped, tortured and killed.
Then in December, the mayor and seven other town officials resigned saying they had been threatened by drug traffickers and local police were not showing up to work.
In January, when Sanchez took the job of mayor, he fired 60 local police who were replaced by federal officers.
More than 29,000 people have been killed in violence between rival drug cartels and between cartels and state security forces since President Felipe Calderon launched his offensive on cartels in 2006.
29-year-old Mayor Gustavo Sanchez was the fifth city leader to be killed in Mexico since mid-August.
His aide, 36-year-old Rafael Equihua Cervantes was also found in the back of the abandoned truck.
Sanchez was not known to have a party affiliation and was a teacher by training before taking the helm of the town of 5,500.
Last year the city council chief, Gonzalo Paz, was kidnapped, tortured and killed.
Then in December, the mayor and seven other town officials resigned saying they had been threatened by drug traffickers and local police were not showing up to work.
In January, when Sanchez took the job of mayor, he fired 60 local police who were replaced by federal officers.
More than 29,000 people have been killed in violence between rival drug cartels and between cartels and state security forces since President Felipe Calderon launched his offensive on cartels in 2006.
