MORELIA, Mexico — The mayor of La Piedad had already seen his police chief killed when he too was fatally ambushed by gunmen as he campaigned for President Felipe Calderon’s sister and other candidates in the upcoming
state elections.
Luisa Maria Calderon is vying for governor in the Nov. 13 elections in Michoacan, the Calderon family home state where her brother five years ago launched the drug war and where many say the political system has the country’s worst infiltration of drug cartels.
The killing late Wednesday of Mayor Ricardo Guzman, 45, could be the latest in a string of drug cartel threats all political parties say have occurred against candidates, and pose the specter that Mexico’s drug violence will interfere with democracy and next week’s vote.