Mayoral candidates slain in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Two mayoral candidates in two different Mexican towns have been killed in less than 24 hours, marking a total of at least 18 candidates killed so far in campaigns leading up to the July 1 elections.

An independent mayoral candidate was gunned down in the rural town of Aguililla in the western state of Michoacan on Wednesday.

Michoacan Gov. Silvano Aureoles vowed to catch those responsible for killing candidate Omar Gomez Lucatero.

Aguililla is an extensive but sparsely populated mountain township where drug gangs and vigilantes are active.

And early Thursday, the mayoral candidate for the leftist Democratic Revolution Party was killed in Ocampo, also in Michoacan. His party said that Fernando Angeles Juarez was assassinated.

Ocampo is a rural township about 150 km west of Mexico City best known for the Monarch butterfly wintering grounds that occupy part of the mountainous municipality. It also been plagued by illegal logging and gangs.

Almost all of the 18 candidates killed across the country so far have been running for local posts in the July 1 elections, which will also decide the presidency, governorships and Congress. Other politicians who were just considering a run were also killed.

Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope said that in part, the level of violence against candidates can be explained by “simple mathematics” — there are far more elections being held simultaneously than ever before. With more than 3,400 local, state and federal posts at stake, there are 15,000 candidates hitting the campaign trail.

“Secondly, this speaks to the changes in criminal groups. It becomes much more important to gain control over territory, over local governments.”