International
Mexico town hall massacre leaves at least 20 dead
AFP | Yussel Gonzalez
Gunmen attacked a town hall and murdered at least 20 people, including a mayor, in a southern Mexican state riven by turf wars between rival drug cartels, authorities said Thursday.
Soldiers guarded the bullet-riddled building in San Miguel Totolapan following Wednesday’s massacre, in which Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, who held the job before him, were killed in broad daylight.
The mayor was in a work meeting when he was shot dead, municipal official Freddy Vazquez told reporters.
“At first we couldn’t believe it. Our municipality is peaceful. We thought they were fireworks… but little by little we listened more closely and realized that they were gunshots,” he said.
Police officers and city council workers were reported to be among the victims.
The attack came amid disputes between criminal groups operating in Guerrero state, including one known as Los Tequileros and another called La Familia Michoacana, Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejia said.
Located in the violence-wracked Tierra Caliente region, San Miguel Totolapan sits along a drug trafficking route disputed by different cartels.
“It’s possible that the murders were due to a dispute between Los Tequileros and La Familia Michoacana for control of the municipality,” security analyst David Saucedo told AFP.
Los Tequileros were previously active in San Miguel Totolapan for several years, mainly staging kidnappings for ransom.
But the group’s influence dwindled after the death of one of its leaders in 2018 in a gunfight with police.
Just days before Wednesday’s attack, alleged members of Los Tequileros had made threats to return to the town, local press reported.
‘Cowardly murder’
Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states, has endured years of violence linked to turf wars between drug cartels fighting for control of marijuana and opium production and drug trafficking.
“These are organizations that have been around for a long time. They did not emerge during this government, and we are trying to address the causes,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters.
Guerrero state attorney general Sandra Luz Valdovinos said that nobody had yet been arrested for the attack.
“There isn’t yet enough evidence to determine who’s likely responsible,” she told local television.
Criminal gangs have cultivated close links to regional politicians, complicating efforts to pacify Guerrero despite the deployment of federal forces.
“Drug traffickers control various areas of the state and, instead of fighting them, the political parties have relied on them to win elections,” Saucedo said.
More than 340,000 people have been killed across Mexico in a spiral of bloodshed since the government deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.
Local-level politicians frequently fall victim to violence connected to corruption and the multibillion-dollar narcotics trade.
Mendoza is one of 94 mayors who have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, according to data from consulting firm Etellekt.
His party, the left-wing opposition PRD, condemned the “cowardly murder.”
“We demand justice, enough of impunity,” it wrote on Twitter.
Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado, of the ruling Morena party, said she had ordered a swift investigation into the massacre.
“There will be no impunity for the vicious aggression,” she tweeted.
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A member of the Mexican Army stands guard in front of the bullet-ridden building of the Municipality of San Miguel Totolapan, state of Guerrero, Mexico, on October 6, 2022. - Mexican authorities said Thursday that at least 20 people had been killed, including the mayor, when gunmen stormed a town hall in the southern part of the country Wednesday in a broad daylight attack. (Photo by FRANCISCO ROBLES / AFP)
International
Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal
Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.
The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.
The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).
“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.
Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”
International
Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders
President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.
Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.
A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”
According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.
International
Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join
Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.
Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.
“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.
“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.
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