Mexico extradites 26 suspected cartel members to US
Mexico sent 26 suspected cartel members to the United States on Tuesday, the second such transfer this year.
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MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised on Sunday, November 2, that there would be justice for the brazen murder of local mayor Carlos Manzo. Carlos Manzo has been an outspoken critic of organized crime and has called on the government to do more to protect him and others.
Manzo, 40, was shot on November 1 while attending a candlelight Day of the Dead festival in the city center of Uruapan in the violent western state of Michoacán. Two suspects were arrested and a third person was killed, Mexico’s Ministry of Security said.
Mr. Sheinbaum convened an emergency meeting of his security cabinet on November 2, after which he condemned Mr. Manzo’s “despicable” assassination in a statement on X.
“We reaffirm our determination to deploy all national efforts to achieve peace and security with zero impunity and full justice,” said Sheinbaum.
A march was called for in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state, on November 2 to demand justice for Manzo’s death and an end to violence and corruption.
Manzo, one of the few independent politicians elected to public office in Mexico, had been the mayor of Uruapan since September 2024. Manzo, who has often been seen wearing a bulletproof vest since taking office, has expressed concerns for his own safety and called on the federal government to do more to fight organized crime.
“I don’t want to be just another mayor on a list of people who have been executed, people who have had their lives taken away,” Manzo said in an interview with Mexican journalist Joaquín López-Driga in September.
Uruapan is called the avocado capital of Mexico because it is located in the heart of Michoacán’s avocado-growing region. The industry is growing rapidly due to surging demand in the United States, and avocado production has become a target for organized crime groups.
Several politicians and journalists have been killed in recent months and years, including other mayors.
In a September interview with Mexico’s Milenio TV, Manzo asked, “How many mayors have we not killed because they opposed signing deals with organized crime?”
He told Sheinbaum that Uruapan’s avocado industry is important ahead of a review of Mexico’s trade agreements with the United States and Canada, and appealed for stronger security measures.
Manzo also said that more determination was needed from Security Minister Omar Khalfucsi.
“Minister Omar Khalhouf, please help us,” Manzo said in an interview.
Mr. Harfucci said at a press conference on November 2 that Mr. Manzo has been in federal custody since December 2024, and that protection was increased in May. Security included 14 National Guard troops tasked with perimeter security, and local police provided immediate security.
“The perpetrators took advantage of the vulnerability of a public event,” Harfucci said of Manzo’s murder. “Make sure there is no impunity.”
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau shared a photo of Manzo and her young son on social media shortly before the mayor’s killing, condemning the killing.
“The United States stands ready to deepen our security cooperation with Mexico to root out organized crime on both sides of the border,” Landau wrote in X.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Nia Williams)
