In Mexico, gunmen kill mayoral candidate, son in drug-plagued area near Texas border

Mexican candidate killed in drug-plagued region

MEXICO CITY — Gunmen killed a candidate for mayor from President Felipe Calderon’s conservative National Action Party on Thursday, and the party’s leader said the victim and other candidates had received threats.

PAN leader Cesar Nava said candidate Jose Mario Guajardo had been “asked via threats to abandon his candidacy,” and said his party would ask federal authorities to provide protection for some candidates.

“Like him, we have other candidates … who we now know have also been threatened,” Nava said.

Calderon’s office said in a press statement that his administration “condemns the cowardly assassination” and “repeats its commitment to continue combatting organized crime.”

Both Calderon’s statement and the 9 mm shell casings found at the scene — a caliber favored by Mexico’s drug gunmen — suggested the possibility of cartel involvement in the killing of Guajardo, his son and an employee.

Calderon’s office did not comment on any plans to provide protection for candidates.

Guajardo was gunned down in the northern border state of Tamaulipas, where his party says politicians are too scared to run for office because of death threats and rampant drug gang violence.

Guajardo, who was running for mayor of Valle Hermoso — a town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Brownsville, Texas — was shot in the offices of his agricultural supplies company.

The Tamaulipas state government confirmed his killing in a brief statement, but did not provide any information on the motive in the killing. His son, Mario Guajardo Adame, and employee Fernando Trevino also were killed.

Mexico’s drug gangs have also been known to demand protection payments from businessmen, often shooting them or burning their businesses if they refuse to pay.

Leaders of National Action had warned recently of trouble recruiting candidates for three mayorships and two other local posts in Tamaulipas because many politicians are too scared to run in the July 4 elections.

Nine other states are also holding elections that day for governors, mayors and other local posts.

Violence has swept Tamaulipas recently amid a fierce turf battle between the Gulf cartel and its former ally, the Zetas gang. Federal troops, deployed to the state under Calderon’s nationwide offensive against cartels, have come under systematic attack, and civilians have increasingly been caught in the crossfire.

Jose Julian Sacramento, the National Action candidate for Tamaulipas governor, said recently that several candidates had been threatened. He said he and party leaders were discussing the possibility of letting candidates run without campaigning.

“We’ve been left without candidates because of the fear of organized crime,” Sacramento told the Mexican newspaper El Universal.

At a news conference, Garza, the state party leader, declined to comment on the possible motive for Guajardo’s killing.

“Authorities must tell us what is happening. We want them to investigate and give us an answer,” he said.

Mexico has long struggled to keep organized crime from infiltrating politics. Twelve mayors in the Pacific coast state of Michoacan were arrested last year for allegedly protecting a drug cartel, though most have been let go for lack of evidence. Last week, an ex-governor of eastern Quintana Roo state was extradited to the U.S. on drug trafficking charges.

Calderon stepped up the battle against Mexico’s brutal drug cartels after taking office in December 2006, deploying thousands of troops and federal police across the country. Drug gang violence has surged since then, claiming more than 22,700 lives.