Carlos Manzo

Carlos Manzo – the Murdered Mayor of Mitchoacán

     It seems that, in more than half of Mexico, the forces of law and order are powerless to protect the population against the drug cartels who, by intimidation and the very real threat of death, extort "protection money" from small businesses and private citezens. The British Government advises its citizens against all but essential travel, in orange areas on the map below, and to take care in other areas also.

Map

     On the evening of Saturday 1st November, the mayor of  Uruapan (second largest city in the State of Mitchoacán (Mexico) was shot dead while having his photograph taken with a bunch of children. He, Carlos Manzo, a man of 40 with a wife and two children, had stepped forward the previous year to challenge this regime of intimidation and extortion,  by which the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) terrorises and extorts money from the populations in his state. In August 2025 local police, at Manzo’s request, had arrested the cartel's regional boss, René Belmonte. Manzo's assassination seems to have been in retaliation.  Was he scared? Sure! “I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed, those whose lives have been taken from them”. 

     The Federal President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has inherited the view of her predecessor that directly combatting the cartels has been tried before and is counterproductive. "There would be no return to the war on drugs"  [Ref1].  On Monday 3rd November, Sheinbaum told reporters “Returning to the war against el narco is not an option, México already did that, and the violence got worse.” [Ref2]

     The gunman was a 17-year old amphetamine addict, regarded as belonging to the Jalisco cartel. But the gunman was not alone. He was gunned down instantly by the mayor's bodyguard, and tested positive for gunshot residues, but two 'accomplices' are in custody. 

     Within days, Grecia Quiroz, Manzo’s widow, put herself forward to replace her husband and was sworn in before the State Congress on Wednesday 5th November to succeed her husband as mayor. “They killed Carlos Manzo, but they couldn’t kill what he awakened,” said Quiroz. She speaks well to the crowds, and to the camera, and has aroused enormous sympathy. She is seen as a possible candidate for the Governorship of the State of Mitchoacán when the post is again vacant in 2027 [Ref3].  

     If she has not been shot.