Riots continue in the Mexican state of Michoacan following the murder of a local mayor who had gained fame for his hard stance against crime and cartels. In the most recent riots, protesters set fire to the city hall building in Apatzingan as locals called for the ousting of cartel-connected politicians from Mexico’s ruling party, MORENA.
The issue first began over the weekend, when, as Breitbart Texas reported, a gunman assisted by two other men shot and killed the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo, during a Day of the Dead celebration. Manzo had garnered a massive following throughout Mexico for his hard stance against drug cartels that included ordering his local police force to fight them head-on, and exposing state and federal officials and their complicity in protecting criminal organizations.
By Monday afternoon, hundreds of protesters marched outside the governor’s palace in Morelia, demanding his resignation. As Breitbart Texas has reported, Michoacan’s Governor Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla is the nephew of a convicted drug lord serving prison time in the U.S. and the cousin of a second drug lord. The protesters in Morelia soon turned violent and stormed the governor’s palace, vandalizing the inside and setting fire to it.
The riots continued on Tuesday evening when a group rushed into the Uruapan City Hall, where they set fire to the building and also hung a banner asking for the ousting of the local mayor, Fanny Arreol, who hails from the MORENA party, the same party as the state governor and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. According to El Diario de Juarez, Arreola has been harshly criticized for promoting narco-corridos or regional music that highlights the cartel lifestyle in city events.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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