One year after the discovery in a crematorium, families march for justice

System in the Pacific

A tropical depression located about 965 kilometers south of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, maintains the possibility of evolving into a tropical storm and then a hurricane in the coming days, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).

For now, the system does not represent a direct threat to Mexican territory.

Hurricane Fausto under surveillance

Meanwhile, Hurricane Fausto reached category 2 and remains under observation for its possible approach to the Hawaiian archipelago during the next week.

Fausto is located about 2,250 kilometers west of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.

It has maximum sustained winds of around 169 kilometers per hour.

Although its path and the magnitude of its effects cannot yet be determined precisely, meteorologists warned that the risk of rain and winds in Hawaii increased.

The armed attack against Valentín Lavín Romero, mayor of Temoac, Morelos, which occurred inside the City Hall, raised to 14 the number of municipal presidents deprived of their lives during the current government. Specialists warn that this reflects the advance of organized crime in local governments.

A crisis that is growing in small municipalities

According to records from civil organizations and local media, Oaxaca tops the list with five councilors who were victims of homicide in the last year and a half, followed by Michoacán with four. The attacks against municipal authorities show, according to experts, a dispute between criminal groups for territorial control and political influence in communities.

• Alejandro Arcos Catalán, from Chilpancingo, Guerrero (October 6)
• Román Ruiz Bohórquez, from Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca (October 15)
• Jesús Franco Lárraga, from Tancanhuitz, San Luis Potosí (December 15)
• Mario Hernández García, from Santiago Amoltepec, Oaxaca (May 15)
• Isaías Rojas Ramírez, from Metlatónoc, Guerrero (June 2)
• Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, from Cotija, Michoacán (June 3)
• Salvador Bastida García, from Tacámbaro, Michoacán (June 5)
• Lilia Gema García Soto, from San Mateo Piñas, Oaxaca (June 15)
• Martha Laura Mendoza Mendoza, from Tepalcatepec, Michoacán (June 17)
• Miguel Bahena Solórzano, from Pisaflores, Hidalgo (October 20)
• Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, from Uruapan, Michoacán (November 1)
• Joel Ángel Bravo Martínez, from San Miguel Amatitlán, Oaxaca (June 13)
• Eduardo Saavedra López, from San Miguel Yogovana, Oaxaca (July 12)
• Valentín Lavín Romero, from Temoac, Morelos (July 22)

Security specialists point out that small municipalities are the most vulnerable due to their limited institutional and security capacities. Víctor Sánchez, academic at the Autonomous University of Coahuila, explained:

The attacks against mayors represent a symptom of municipal capture by criminal organizations, which seek to influence local police, political decisions and territorial control.

The PAN senator, Mario Vázquez, stated that these homicides reflect the abandonment of municipal governments in the face of organized crime and accused a lack of federal support. Meanwhile, federal authorities have noted a reduction in high-impact crimes, although experts consider that the security strategy has not been able to uniformly strengthen local governments.

Former president Vicente Fox Quesada and four former governors of the National Action Party (PAN) formed a defense front for Ernesto Ruffo Appel, after the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) accused him of alleged crimes of organized crime and tax fraud.

At a press conference, Fox was accompanied by former governors Francisco Javier Ramírez Acuña and Alberto Cárdenas Jiménez, from Jalisco, as well as Juan Carlos Romero Hicks and Miguel Márquez Márquez, from Guanajuato. They demanded that the judicial process be carried out with transparency and adherence to the rule of law.

Fox stated that he “puts his hands in the fire” for who was the first opposition governor in the modern history of Mexico. He assured that the defense is not seeking privileges, but rather to guarantee that his constitutional rights are respected during the process.

The former president questioned the initial hearing against Ruffo Appel and pointed out that there are doubts about the impartiality of the procedure. He maintained that the accusations have a political background and recalled that large-scale fuel smuggling networks and tax fraud were previously reported.

Fox criticized the new Judiciary, which emerged from a popular election, which he described as a body without independence to guarantee fair processes. The former PAN governors insisted that the case must be resolved based on evidence and under the principles of legality and due process.