New mayor Gustavo Alarcón takes workplace in Mexico after his predecessor Alejandro Arcos was beheaded
A brand new mayor was sworn in Thursday in a metropolis in southern Mexico the place his predecessor was killed and beheaded lower than per week after taking workplace.
The brand new mayor, Gustavo Alarcón, a health care provider, had been elected as an alternate on the identical ticket as deceased Mayor Alejandro Arcos within the June election.
Arcos took workplace on Oct. 1 within the violence-wracked metropolis of Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern state of Guerrero. However his beheaded physique was present in a pickup truck Sunday; his head had been positioned on the automobile’s roof. Two rival drug gangs are combating to manage the town.
Alarcón took the oath of workplace with a minimal safety element of a handful of cops Thursday. He pledged to “work for the great of all” and battle the violence that has gripped Chilpancingo for years.
Earlier than he was killed, Arcos had informed native media he wanted extra safety, however officers mentioned no formal request had been obtained. State and federal governments can supply mayors bulletproof automobiles, extra bodyguards and emergency alert methods. It was not clear if Alarcón had been granted that type of safety.
Chilpancingo, a metropolis of about 300,000, is dominated by two warring drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. One staged an illustration of tons of of individuals, hijacked a authorities armored automotive, blocked a significant freeway and took police hostage in 2023 to win the discharge of arrested suspects.
Earlier this week, federal Public Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch mentioned 4 mayors from different cities in Mexico had requested safety on Monday, a day after Arcos’ stays had been discovered. The requests got here from Guerrero and one other violence-plagued state, Guanajuato.
The scenario in Guanajuato is so unhealthy that forward of the nation’s June elections, not less than 4 mayoral candidates had been killed.
However violence in Guerrero reached such unprecedented ranges that earlier this yr, Roman Catholic bishops introduced they had helped prepare a truce in one other a part of the state between two warring drug cartels.
On the time, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador— who refused to confront the gangs — mentioned he accredited of such talks.
“Clergymen and pastors and members of all of the church buildings have participated, helped in pacifying the nation. I believe it is vitally good,” mentioned López Obrador, who left workplace Sept. 30.
