Less than 24 hours after Mexico elected its first female president in 200 years of constitutional history, a sitting female mayor was murdered.
According to local media outlets like El Financiero on the 4th (local time), Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa, the mayor of Cotija in the state of Michoacán, was shot dead by an unidentified assailant the day before. Figueroa, the mayor of Cotija City with approximately 15,000 people, was known for her hardline stance against cartel violence. She was elected as the first female mayor of Cotija in 2021.
Last September, she was abducted by armed assailants while traveling with her family in the neighboring state of Jalisco and was released after three days. Despite increased personal security measures by the Mexican authorities, they were unable to prevent her assassination.
The daily El Universal reported that an organization known as “Calaveras,” believed to be a cell force acting on orders from the notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), left a message online claiming, “We killed Mayor Figueroa.”
This assassination occurred less than 24 hours after Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as Mexico’s first female president.