Around 8:30 on Saturday night, Carlos Manzo was in the middle of the plaza of Uruapan, the municipality he governed. He was barely separated from the crowd in the square by a small metal fence. The extensive security team that he had in place since December and was reinforced in May, according to the federal Security Secretary, was not noticeable among all the people around him.
The municipal president of Uruapan boasted the economic reactivation of the center of the municipality and also spoke with reporters about the security operations that were coordinated with the municipal government.
She carried her little son in her arms, and she also showed him the fireworks that were launched several times to start the party.
According to social media broadcasts by journalists in Michoacán, the plaza was packed for the Uruapan 2025 candle festival. While the inauguration was taking place, someone approached the municipal president, Carlos Manzo, and shot at least six times. The municipal president died minutes later.
Unfortunately, the scenario is not foreign to the state of Michoacán; Manzo is at least the seventh municipal president who has been assassinated since 2022. On all occasions, state authorities have expressed their condolences, said that the crime would be clarified, and condemned the attacks.
This time even Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla attended the wake of the municipal president. The people who were present and the family members received him with boos, with complaints and with the demand to find those responsible.
The worrying thing this time is that since December, Carlos Manzo had had support from the National Guard and the Army in his municipality.
He announced that there was coordination with the Ministry of Defense, and thanked the federal authorities for the support they provided. “We are seeing the first signs that they are going to come and support Uruapan,” he said in an interview in June and was confident that social peace could be recovered in the municipality.
Operations had been reinforced, there was constant communication with the federal government and security authorities. According to the municipal president’s statements, there was progress, but despite that—or perhaps because of it—he was murdered.
And this is when the genuine doubt comes: what do we do with the municipalities plagued by violence?
It seemed that everything that could be done in Uruapan was done. The call for federal aid, cooperation with agencies, the complaint of local authorities. The presence of those in charge of security. Everything that could be done to restore peace was done and even then, it cost dearly.
What do we do now? The federal authorities were just in Michoacán, they reinforced operations with the intention of cleaning the area of extortionists and murderers. It seems that everything that needed to be done was done and yet the violence remains challenging and threatening.
@Micmoya