Bloody election campaign: mayoral candidate stabbed to death in Northern Mexico

The murder of a mayor in northern Mexico continues to increase the number of politicians killed ahead of June’s national elections. Noé Ramos was stabbed to death in the street after a campaign appearance in Ciudad Mante, security authorities in the US-bordering state of Tamaulipas said.

The politician from the bourgeois National Action Party started his campaign for re-election as mayor of the city just a few days ago.

More than twenty politicians have already been killed
Mexico’s upcoming elections will fill about 21,000 positions, including the presidency and nine governorships. At least fifteen politicians have been murdered in the Latin American country before the important votes on June 2, according to official figures.

Drug cartels are often behind the attacks
Ramos’ party condemned the latest attack and called for greater protection for candidates in the current election campaign. The motives behind the killings remain largely unknown. The country’s powerful drug cartels are often behind the attacks. However, knife attacks are unusual for the gangs.

The presidential elections will certainly see a woman as head of state for the first time, as the two major party alliances each have top candidates. The candidate of the left-wing coalition around the Morena Party, Claudia Sheinbaum, is leading in the polls. Former PAN senator Xóchitl Gálvez is running as a candidate for the opposition’s three-party alliance.