MEXICO CITY
The cold-blooded murder of a crusading Mexican mayor, who hunted drug traffickers from a helicopter, has put pressure on President Claudia Sheinbaum to step up her fight against the country’s notorious cartels. Outraged by the killing of Carlos Manzo, the 40-year-old mayor of the city of Uruapan in Michoacan state, dozens of protesters set fire to public buildings over two days of demonstrations across the region.
Manzo, who shot to fame chasing gang members from the air in a cowboy hat, was gunned down at a public event Saturday marking Mexico’s Day of the Dead. In just over a year as mayor in the country’s avocado-growing heartland, he became known as the “Mexican Bukele” after El Salvador’s popular gang-busting president Nayib Bukele. His death stoked anger towards regional authorities, accused of failing to support him in the fight against the region’s myriad cartels.
“He had the voice we were all waiting for,” student Sofia Caseres told media during a protest over Manzo’s murder. Manzo’s widow, Grecia Quiroz, was sworn into office Wednesday to complete the term he was elected to, and vowed to take up his crusade against growing drug-related violence.
“Listen carefully and let it be heard loud and clear: Carlos Manzo’s legacy will continue, even if his voice has been silenced,” Quiroz told the Michoacan congress in a speech after being sworn in.State governor Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla, of Sheinbaum’s Morena party, was booed by mourners at the mayor’s funeral Sunday.
Manzo’s killing comes as US President Donald Trump pressures Mexico to crack down on the ultra-violent gangs who control much of the world’s drug trade. Sheinbaum reacted to the murder by announcing a joint drive by federal forces and local prosecutors to combat murders and extortion in Michoacan. Manzo was shot in the head, despite heavy security.
He was highly critical of Sheinbaum’s mentor, ex-president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, who advocated an approach of “hugs, not bullets” to areas plagued by drug trafficking. “These are the hugs we give to criminals,” Manzo wrote on Facebook in May, alongside a video of a helicopter chase of suspected thieves.
Sheinbaum has distanced herself from AMLO’s approach since taking office a year ago. Under her watch, Mexico has extradited 55 senior cartel leaders and other fugitives to the United States, made record hauls of fentanyl, the opioid blamed for thousands of US overdose deaths, and stepped up intelligence gathering.
She points to a drop in homicides, which averaged 59.5 cases per day in September compared with 86.9 in the same month in 2024, as proof her strategy is yielding results. Security expert David Saucedo said the drop in murders could, however, be due to the emergence of “hegemonic” cartels that pacify areas under their control, rather than more effective policing.
