MEXICO CITY: Two candidates for mayor of Maravatio municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacan from the ruling Morena party and the opposition National Action Party (PAN) have been killed hours apart, Sputnik quoted the Milenio newspaper report on Tuesday, citing police sources.
Armando Perez Luna, a preliminary candidate of the PAN party, has been shot dead just hours after another candidate had been assassinated in the same municipality, the report said, adding that he has been killed while driving a car.
Miguel Angel Zavala Reyes, who had been going to run in the election from Morena, has been the victim of an armed attack outside a local hospital and died of his wounds, the report said.
General elections in Mexico are scheduled to be held on June 2, with campaigning starting next Friday. Leaders of the parties represented by the killed candidates condemned the violence and demanded an explanation of all the circumstances.
The state of Michoacan, with 1,334 cases and 2,261 deaths in 2023, is one of the leaders in homicides in the country, primarily due to the confrontation of large cartels. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
