34 Detained in Slaying of Uruapan Mayor; 200 Officers Sent to City

URUAPAN, Mexico, Nearly a year after a mayor who publicly battled cartels was shot dead in a crowded plaza, the investigation into his killing has reached his inner circle, and the city he led has grown more violent.

Prosecutors in Michoacan state say 34 people have been detained in the death of Carlos Alberto Manzo. Among them are seven bodyguards who stood beside him when he was attacked, government members accused of leaking his movements, and Manzo's godson, accused of helping plan the killing. On Thursday, prosecutors said they had detained the city's welfare secretary on obstruction of justice charges, noting her relationship to two alleged Jalisco New Generation Cartel members arrested over the case.

Federal and state authorities have blamed Manzo's killing on that cartel. Grecia Quiroz, who succeeded him as mayor, has pointed elsewhere, accusing state officials from President Claudia Sheinbaum's party who had long clashed with Manzo and his political movement. Manzo's brother, Juan Manzo, a member of Morena in the state government now at odds with Quiroz, said she has not been forthcoming. "I can't directly accuse her," Juan Manzo said. "But the reality is that she has covered for many of those responsible for the murder of her children's father. She has not been transparent during the investigation." Quiroz has denied the accusations and said her family was "betrayed" by those closest to them.

Manzo was among at least 13 mayors killed across Mexico in the two years since Sheinbaum took office, according to an Associated Press tally based on official reports. The previous administration saw 23 sitting mayors killed over six years, according to civil society groups. Miguel Meza, a researcher at Narcopoliticos, said cartel killings often silence people who interfere with criminal profits. "They didn't just kill the mayor, they killed the person who was leading this fight against cartels, a symbolic leader," Meza said.

Violence has risen in Uruapan in recent weeks. State authorities documented 17 killings, eight gunshot injuries, four attacks on businesses and homes, and a series of robberies in October. Over one weekend, a masked man on a motorcycle shot two women working at a taco stand, killing one. Store owner David Vázquez said extortions by local mafias have mounted since Manzo's killing, forcing his family to temporarily close. He resented watching the fleet of state bodyguards escorting Quiroz, saying "they only protect her and her family."

Quiroz is escorted by 60 federally appointed bodyguards. As she prepared the city for Day of the Dead, she said she was haunted by memories of Manzo preparing the prior year's celebration. "It's all come back to me like a countdown of what happened that last week he was alive," she said. "He poured his body and soul into this."

On Tuesday, state authorities sent 200 law enforcement officers to Uruapan. At the plaza where Manzo was killed, posters, busts, flowers, and white sombreros mark the spot. His headstone reads: "Not a single step backward."