The death of a Puerto Vallarta councilor brings to three the number of candidates for offices in Jalisco who have lost their lives during the current election season, either by violent means or in suspicious circumstances.
On April 27, the lifeless body of Green Party’s Francisco Sánchez Gaeta, who was running for the municipal Síndico(legal officer) post, was found in a car parked to the side of a highway in the municipality of Mascota. According to the State Prosecutor’s Office (FE), he was slumped in the driver’s seat and although preliminary investigations indicated no signs of violence, foul play is suspected.
The FE did not comment on whether Sánchez’s death was linked to the killing of Jaime Vera Alaniz, the Green Party “pre-candidate” for mayor of Mascota who was shot to death on February 1 in Zapopan, at the intersection of avenidas Moctezuma and Clouthier. State authorities stated at the time they did not believe the killing was connected to the upcoming election, but have not provided any further updates on the investigation.
On Friday, March 16, Humberto Amezcua Bautista, the Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) mayor of Pihuamo, who was also running for a second term, was shot to death in an SUV at an intersection of the small town located on Highway 110 midway between Tecalitlan and Colima. According to witnesses, several gunmen approached his vehicle and fired repeated shots at close range at their target.
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