Israel Delgado Vega, candidate for trustee of Cuitzeo, Michoacán, for the Labor Party, was shot dead this Saturday night outside his home.
The candidate was murdered in the community of San Juan Benito Juárez. Everything happened hours before the voting that is taking place this Sunday began. The murder did not prevent the national elections from taking place.
Delgado Vega, who was 35 years old, was part of the team of Rosa Elia Milan Pintor, current mayor of Cuitzeo and candidate for re-election.
According to reports, the candidate was outside his home in the company of other people when he was attacked. The Attorney General’s Office of the State of Michoacán (FGE) initiated an Investigation File in relation to the murder of the candidate.
That region has been one of the hardest hit by political violence, a phenomenon on the rise in Mexico since 2018 and behind which are organized crime organizations that dispute control of territories and seek to coerce local authorities.
This was not the only case of murder prior to these elections. Last Wednesday, José Alfredo Cabrera Barreintos, candidate for mayor of a district in southwestern Mexico, was shot dead at the campaign closing ceremony.
A few days before the electoral contest on June 2, the Third Electoral Laboratory Report entitled “Electoral Violence process 2023-2024” revealed that from June 4, 2023 to May 29, 2024, 320 cases of electoral violence were registered, of of which 93 were murders (36 were aspirants).
