Female mayor killed in Mexico just hours after election of first female President

Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, mayor of Cotija in Mexico’s state of Michoacán has been killed after the country elected its first female president.

Her murder comes just hours after the country elected its first female president in a race marred by deadly attacks on candidates.

Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, mayor of Cotija in Michoacán state, was walking from a gym back to her house with her bodyguard when they were shot by people in a white van, the state attorney general said in a statement.

Both Sánchez Figueroa and her bodyguard later died in hospital, the Attorney General said, adding that an investigation has been launched.

Confirmation of Sánchez Figueroa’s death came hours after Claudia Sheinbaum won a landslide victory to become the first female president of Mexico.

Widespread violence against politicians has occured this year with dozens of political candidates and applicants killed by criminal organizations during the campaign season in attempts to influence the vote.

The electoral violence has been the bloodiest in Mexico’s history.

Sheinbaum will begin her presidency on October 1, replacing the outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, her longtime ally whose social welfare programs lifted many Mexicans out of poverty.

Mexico’s homicide rate is among the highest in the world and it remains a dangerous place for women,  with figures showing around 10 women are murdered every day. More than 100,000 people remain missing in the country