Mexican Mayor Killed After One Day in Office
January 5, 2016 9:06 AM   Subscribe

Temixco is two hours' drive south of Mexico City, close to the resort town of Cuernavaca. The city of about 90,000 was catapulted into international headlines when its first female mayor was assassinated after less than 24 hours in office.

Mota's murder has been attributed to Los Rojos, a drug gang in the area that is seeking to terrorize local leaders into not cooperating with a federal plan to exert more control over local law enforcement and politics.
posted by Etrigan (21 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
awww fuck this is terrible.

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posted by Theta States at 9:18 AM on January 5, 2016 [7 favorites]


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posted by Pendragon at 9:23 AM on January 5, 2016


This is really terrible. There are so many wonderful, kind people that I've met from Mexico and their country deserves better than this.
posted by GuyZero at 9:35 AM on January 5, 2016 [4 favorites]


For some reason that chainsaw beheading video has been on my mind the last few days. The drug wars are a lovely thing.
posted by todayandtomorrow at 9:37 AM on January 5, 2016


There is a chainsaw beheading video?
Goodbye internet, logging off forever.
posted by Theta States at 9:42 AM on January 5, 2016 [13 favorites]


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posted by Gelatin at 9:46 AM on January 5, 2016


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posted by cnanderson at 10:14 AM on January 5, 2016


Mota’s final public Facebook post was dated December 31, the day before she assumed her first — and last — day in office. She is seen holding a newborn infant wrapped in blankets. “Without a doubt the best gift that God could send us, my little nephew,” Mota wrote, adding that she was “feeling blessed.”
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posted by Fizz at 10:31 AM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


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posted by Foosnark at 10:35 AM on January 5, 2016


Times like this make me wish there was a Chrome extension for "Mexico Violence Removal" when my brother is visiting our family for the holidays.

This is so tragic, and I hope her family finds peace.
posted by rockfalls at 10:42 AM on January 5, 2016


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posted by lord_wolf at 11:18 AM on January 5, 2016


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posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:55 AM on January 5, 2016


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posted by SarahElizaP at 12:13 PM on January 5, 2016


I sometimes worry that these horrible demons (cartels, ISIS, Al-Qaida, etc) that keep threatening us really are a Phantom Menace* used to scare the population into a more centralized, militaristic, panopticon style of governing. I highly doubt that there's any kind of central architect, but rather an inescapable gradual consolidation of power among many actors and equivalent erosion of personal autonomy.

*I apologize for the pop culture analogy
posted by leotrotsky at 12:17 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm an American living in the US - I go to Cuernavaca about once every 4-six weeks. I am only ever treated with kindness, goodwill, and humor (you should hear my Spanish). every dime you spend in Mexico that is not part of the WOD economy is gift from heaven.

disclosure: I have very generous Mexican hosts there, so I'm never in a 'bad' part of town.
posted by j_curiouser at 12:36 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


disclosure: I have very generous Mexican hosts there, so I'm never in a 'bad' part of town.

I doubt the mayor was, either.

The worst part is the deafening silence from both political parties on this. There's a war of terror being waged against the citizens of a country where over 34 million Americans have ancestral ties ...and not only are we doing fuck-all about it, but we're creating the problem with our asinine puritanical laws.

Trump wants to fix the problem of illegals? Here's an idea, maybe make northern Mexico a less fucking terrifying place to live.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:45 PM on January 5, 2016 [21 favorites]


I doubt the mayor was, either.
to be clear, I was highlighting that the *geographical* risks are pretty easily mitigated. in contrast, the mayor had a *WOD/cartel-warfare/politics* risk that probably very few American tourists share.

not only are we doing fuck-all about it, but we're creating the problem...make northern Mexico a less fucking terrifying place to live
preach it
posted by j_curiouser at 12:54 PM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]


Cuernavaca is a dear place to me. Several good family friends live there and I had wonderful experiences going to one of the many, excellent, schools that provide total immersion Spanish lessons.

My impressions of Cuernavaca are not that of a dangerous city. It was a lovely place, with a vibrant social life (dancing in town square, a strike by teachers, lots of open air markets), although it, perhaps, had a strangely large amount of psychologist offices.

While the murder is a shame, and I hope that the Mayor Ocampo finds justice, I hope people do not take this as a reason not to visit.

Cuernavaca may be a dangerous place to be a Mayor or a drug dealer or an investigative reporter, but those near and dear to me, male and female, from every age from 16 to 80, have visited and lived in Cuernavaca for years without incident.

Don't let this story scare you from Mexico and Cuernavaca. If I could, I would visit today.
posted by bswinburn at 1:02 PM on January 5, 2016 [3 favorites]


No surprise to anyone who has read Don Wilson's The Cartel, which was easily the best book I read in 2015.
posted by oluckyman at 2:21 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


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posted by lester at 6:58 PM on January 5, 2016


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posted by hydropsyche at 6:19 AM on January 6, 2016


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