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The states of Guerrero, Michoacán and Oaxaca concentrate the most serious cases
Juan R. Hernandez
Mexico City.- In the last five six-year terms, at least 94 mayors have been murdered in Mexico, according to reports from the report Violence and local power in Mexico by Consultores MX and Ciudadanos Observando. Guerrero, Michoacán and Oaxaca top the list of entities most affected by the political violence that has left a persistent mark on the public life of the country.
From the six-year term of Ernesto Zedillo to the current government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the homicides of municipal presidents They reflect the impact of organized crime and institutional weakness in large areas of the territory.
During Vicente Fox’s period (2000–2006), only four murders of acting mayors were recorded. The phenomenon worsened in the six-year term of Felipe Calderon (2006–2012), when the so-called “war on drug trafficking” left 24 mayors dead, mainly in Michoacán, Chihuahua and Guerrero.
Violence reached its lowest point Enrique Pena Nieto (2012–2018), with 39 homicides, highlighting cases in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Guerrero. In the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018–2024), 27 murders were recorded.
In total, more than 90 municipal presidents have been fatal victims of the political violence since 2000. The hardest hit states—Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Puebla—account for 61% of the homicides of mayors.
According to the analysis, the pattern is clear: municipalities continue to be the weakest link in public power, trapped between pressure from criminal groups, political dispute and institutional fragility.