In a shocking act of violence, Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, the mayor of Uruapan in Mexico’s western state of Michoacán, was shot dead during Day of the Dead celebrations on Saturday night. The brazen killing unfolded in the town’s historic center in front of dozens of residents and tourists gathered to honor the traditional holiday.
According to state prosecutor Carlos Torres Piña, Manzo Rodríguez was rushed to a hospital after being shot multiple times but later died from his injuries. A city council member and one of his bodyguards were also wounded in the attack.
Federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said the mayor was shot seven times by an unidentified gunman, who was later killed at the scene. Authorities linked the weapon used in the assassination to recent armed clashes between rival criminal groups operating in the region.
“No line of investigation is being ruled out to clarify this cowardly act that took the life of the mayor,” García Harfuch said.
Michoacán remains one of Mexico’s most violent states, a contested stronghold for cartels fighting over territory, drug routes, and extortion rackets.
Grief and Outrage in Uruapan
On Sunday, hundreds of Uruapan residents filled the streets dressed in black, carrying photographs of the slain mayor and chanting “Justice! Justice! Out with Morena!”—a reference to the ruling party of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
At the head of the funeral procession, a man led Manzo Rodríguez’s black horse, adorned with one of his signature hats on the saddle. Behind him, a group of black-clad mariachi musicians played somber songs as police and military officers guarded the route.
The mayor, a former Morena legislator who had since formed an independent political movement, had become an outspoken critic of state authorities. In recent months, he publicly appealed to President Sheinbaum on social media for federal help to combat local cartels, accusing Michoacán’s pro-government governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla and the state police of corruption.
Captured on Camera
The assassination was caught on video and widely shared on social media. Footage shows families and visitors enjoying the vibrant festivities surrounded by marigolds, candles, and painted skulls before gunfire erupts. Panic quickly ensues as people run for cover.
Another video shows an official performing CPR on a person lying motionless on the ground as armed officers secure the area.
Manzo Rodríguez had been under police protection since December 2024, just three months after taking office. His security was later strengthened in May with municipal police and 14 National Guard officers, although officials have not disclosed what prompted the added measures.
Known by some as “the Mexican Bukele,” a nickname referencing El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and his tough anti-crime policies, Manzo Rodríguez had pledged to confront organized crime and restore order in Uruapan—a city long plagued by cartel violence.
A Pattern of Political Violence
His death marks the second killing of a Michoacán mayor in 2025. In June, Salvador Bastidas, mayor of Tacámbaro, was murdered alongside his bodyguard outside his home. Last October, journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís was also shot dead in Uruapan shortly after interviewing Manzo Rodríguez.
The escalating wave of assassinations has underscored the growing risks faced by local politicians in Mexico, where criminal groups routinely target public officials who resist their influence or expose corruption.
As mourners in Uruapan continue to demand justice, Manzo Rodríguez’s death has once again drawn attention to the deepening crisis of political violence and impunity gripping Michoacán—and much of Mexico.
