Martha Laura Mendoza Mendoza, mayor of Tepalcatepec in the state of Michoac\u00e1n, was arriving at her home with her family around 11 a.m. local time on Tuesday when a group of armed men opened fire, according to local reports. Both the mayor and her husband were killed. Their son, whose age has not been confirmed, was seriously injured and transported to a hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The regional prosecutor\u2019s office has opened an investigation and classified the mayor\u2019s killing as a \u201cfemicide,\u201d according to an official statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mendoza Mendoza was a member of Morena, Mexico\u2019s ruling party, and was serving her second term after winning the 2021 municipal election by a single vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Mexican media, the mayor was the sister-in-law of Juan Jos\u00e9 Far\u00edas, known as \u201cEl Abuelo,\u201d an alleged cartel leader who previously had ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) before forming his own group, the Cartel de Tepalcatepec. The cartel, based in the same municipality where the attack occurred, is part of the broader \u201cC\u00e1rteles Unidos\u201d alliance, which has been engaged in a violent conflict with the CJNG. Michoac\u00e1n is a key front in that war and a major production hub for methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mendoza Mendoza is the second mayor killed in Michoac\u00e1n this month, following the murder of Salvador Bastida Garc\u00eda, mayor of Tac\u00e1mbaro. The region also saw an unprecedented drone attack on the Benito Ju\u00e1rez city hall last week\u2014reportedly the first bombing of its kind on a municipal building in Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her death also follows the assassination of Lilia Gemma Garc\u00eda Soto, mayor of San Mateo Pi\u00f1as in Oaxaca, on Sunday. Mendoza Mendoza is the fifth mayor killed in Mexico so far this year, and the eighth since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office in October 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Martha Laura Mendoza Mendoza, mayor of Tepalcatepec in the state of Michoac\u00e1n, was arriving at her home with her family around 11 a.m. local time on Tuesday when a group of armed men opened fire, according to local reports. Both the mayor and her husband were killed. Their son, whose age has not been confirmed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":55777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3414,15,3014,1524,483,3520,3541],"class_list":["post-55769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-cjng","tag-featured","tag-mexican-cartels","tag-mexican-drug-war","tag-mexico","tag-michoacan-mexico","tag-political-violence-in-mexico"],"yoast_head":"\n