Ricardo Guzmán Romero was buried yesterday, less than 24 hours after his death, in a funeral heavily attended by prominent government officials and many constituents. By all appearances, the mayor was well respected in his community.
No suspects have been identified in connection with Wednesday evening's assassination in La Piedad, in Michoacán state, but the vehicle used in the shooting has been recovered. It had been stolen from Jalisco state (Guadalajara area) a day or two before.
The Mexican government has offered a reward of up to $5 million pesos - about $400,000 USD -- for information on the case, and federal investigators have been dispatched to Michoacán to join local and state law enforcement officials already working on the case.
The motive for Guzmán Romero's execution has not yet been determined. There is a tendency here, understandably, to attribute every such crime to drug traffickers, and in similar cases there is a presumption of the handiwork of a cartel. But police point to the fact that a shotgun was used -- not typical in organized crime hits. Also, Guzmán Romero was on the street with a group of PAN party workers who were posting political signs and distributing handbills for the upcoming elections on November 13. They have not ruled out purely political motives for the assassination. The Michoacán state prosecutor's office says several local candidates have asked for police protection.
In Cannes, France, concluding a trip to the G-20 economic summit, president Felipe Calderón said that the murder is "a reflection of everything Mexicans want to leave behind; for me and for many others, it's a reason to work all the harder for the nation based on peace and justice that we long for."
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