Antonio Crespo Bolaños, a councilor from Morena in Chilapa, a municipality in Guerrero, Mexico, was shot dead on Tuesday by armed men who fled the scene, raising concerns about upcoming elections in the locality scheduled for June 2 and prompting calls for heightened security.
According to information from Public Security, the councilor was killed on Nueva Street in the city center in the afternoon, where armed men fired at close range, striking him in the head with multiple gunshots. He led the Rural Development committee and was closely linked to the party founder and activist Tomás Morales Patrón, who was killed on March 13 in the same municipality. Morales Patrón’s body was taken to the Forensic Medical Service in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero.
Meanwhile, the State Attorney General’s Office, which remains without a leader after the dismissal of prosecutor Sandra Luz Valdovinos Salmerón, has not released details about the incident.
The murder was confirmed by Morena’s state leader, Jacinto González Varona, who, after these two killings, argued that there are no conditions for the party to participate in the current electoral process. He said he would request security measures for Morena candidates in Chilapa and called on Guerrero’s Public Security Secretariat to help ensure a calm electoral process.
Earlier this month, another candidate was killed in the region. Alfredo González Díaz, the Partido del Trabajo candidate for mayor of Atoyac de Álvarez, was shot while driving his vehicle. In February, activist and Morena founder in the municipality of Huamuxtitlán, Abraham Ramírez, was killed; his daughter Rosalba Ramírez is running as a candidate for mayor. These episodes reflect a broader wave of violence affecting the country’s political landscape.
The ongoing violence has become a defining challenge in Mexico, with dozens of candidates and political leaders having been killed in the 2023-2024 electoral cycle, which marks what many describe as the most violent period in the country’s recent political history. In Guerrero alone, more than 20,700 public posts are at stake across the country, illustrating the high stakes and fragile security environment in which candidates operate. (Source: local authorities)
Additional context shows a chilling pattern of killings affecting regional leaders, activists, and aspirants who are pushing for change in communities that have long faced social and economic strain. The incidents in Chilapa, Atoyac de Álvarez, and Huamuxtitlán highlight the dangers that candidates confront while engaging with voters and organizing campaigns in areas grappling with impunity, resource competition, and longstanding grievances.
Observers note that the current climate complicates the administration of elections, with calls for coordinated security support from state and federal agencies to prevent further violence and to safeguard electoral processes in Guerrero and beyond. The situation remains under close watch as authorities balance the demands for transparent political competition with the imperative of protecting public safety in zones historically prone to unrest.
In summary, the killings underscore the fragile security environment surrounding Mexico’s electoral process, triggering renewed concern among political parties, voters, and security officials. The incidents in Chilapa and neighboring municipalities constitute a stark reminder that violence remains a central obstacle to peaceful, lawful, and credible elections in the region. (Source: local authorities)