A Mexican mayor who had vocally challenged organized crime was gunned down in front of dozens of festival-goers during Day of the Dead celebrations on Saturday, November 1, 2025, in the violence-plagued western state of Michoacán. The brazen public assassination has sparked outrage and renewed calls for government action against the cartels terrorizing the region.
Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, the 40-year-old mayor of Uruapan municipality, was shot seven times by an unidentified assailant during a candlelit event in the city’s historic center. He was rushed to a hospital where he later died from his injuries, according to state prosecutor Carlos Torres Piña. A city council member and a bodyguard were also wounded in the attack.
The attacker was killed at the scene, and two additional suspects were arrested, Federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch told journalists Sunday. The weapon used in the assassination was linked to two previous armed clashes between rival criminal groups operating in the region.
Video footage circulated on social media captured the terrifying moment when gunfire erupted during the festivities. The recordings show residents and tourists enjoying the celebration, some in costume with painted faces, surrounded by hundreds of lit candles, marigold flowers and skull decorations. Multiple gunshots then ring out, sending people fleeing for cover. Another video shows an official performing CPR on a victim while armed police officers secured the area.
Manzo had been under official protection since December 2024, just three months after taking office. His security detail was reinforced in May with additional municipal police and 14 National Guard officers. Despite these measures, the attackers succeeded in reaching him during the public event.
The slain mayor had been an outspoken critic of organized crime and government corruption, frequently appearing in public wearing a bulletproof vest. He had repeatedly appealed to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on social media for additional federal resources to combat the cartels and criminal groups terrorizing his city of 300,000 residents. He also accused Michoacán’s pro-government governor, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, and state police of corruption.
In a haunting statement made just weeks before his death, Manzo acknowledged the risks he faced. “I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed, those whose lives have been taken from them,” he said during a September interview with Mexican journalist Joaquin Lopez-Doriga.
Manzo, nicknamed “The Mexican Bukele” by some in reference to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s tough security policies, had been a member of the ruling Morena party before running as an independent candidate in 2024. He had publicly criticized former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” approach to dealing with drug traffickers.
On Sunday, hundreds of Uruapan residents dressed in black took to the streets for the mayor’s funeral procession. Mourners carried photographs of Manzo and chanted “Justice! Justice! Out with Morena!” in reference to Sheinbaum’s ruling party. At the head of the procession, a man led Manzo’s black horse with one of the mayor’s signature hats placed on the saddle. A mariachi band dressed in black followed, playing somber songs through the narrow streets of the agricultural town, where avocados are the main crop.
President Sheinbaum condemned the killing on X, calling it a “vile assassination.” She wrote: “We reaffirm our commitment to deploy all the state’s efforts to achieve peace and security with zero impunity and full justice.” Sheinbaum convened an emergency meeting of her security cabinet Sunday morning to address the crisis.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, a former ambassador to Mexico, also expressed condolences and offered support. “The US stands ready to deepen security cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on both sides of the border,” he stated on X.
Michoacán remains one of Mexico’s most violent states, serving as a battleground for various cartels and criminal organizations fighting for control of drug trafficking routes and extortion rackets. Local politicians are frequently targeted in attacks tied to political and criminal rivalries.
The assassination follows other recent attacks on local officials in the region. In June, Salvador Bastidas, mayor of Tacámbaro municipality in Michoacán, was killed along with his bodyguard when they arrived at his home. In October 2024, journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís was shot in Uruapan shortly after interviewing Manzo.
Federal Security Secretary García Harfuch indicated that investigators are pursuing multiple lines of inquiry to identify those responsible for ordering the assassination. He emphasized that no possibilities were being ruled out in determining the motive behind what he characterized as a cowardly act.
