The Mexican News Story We Should Really Be Paying Attention to: The Brutal Murder of a Young Mayor

While news of the recapture of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán has been all over the media, a story about the assassination of Gisela Mota, 33, the day after she took office in the Morelos town of Temixco reveals far more about the state of politics and organized crime in Mexico.

From The Guardian:

The murder of an idealistic young politician less than a day after she took office has shocked a country accustomed to extreme violence, even against its elected officials. … The case demonstrates the violence which shadows the country’s local politics – a murky world where symbiotic relationships are forged between lawmakers and organised crime for financial gain, political power – or simply to stay alive.

And it has cast a spotlight on the grim conditions in Morelos. Mexico’s second smallest state lies just south of the capital and was once considered an oasis for its pleasant climate and cobblestoned colonial towns, but is now known as one of the most violent parts of the country. … “Gisela wanted to do things differently, and that can obviously generate a reaction in those accustomed to corruption,” said Anastasio Solís, her former campaign manager.

So many political, criminal or business interests stood to gain from Mota’s death, said Solís, that he feared police would struggle to find the real motive.

Read more.

—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata