Gunmen kill mayor of town in central Mexico

Jose Efrain Garcia was killed when gunmen blocked his vehicle on a road and opened fire. (Representational Image)

Prosecutors in central Mexico say assailants have shot to death a mayor near the colonial city of Puebla. The Puebla state prosecutors’ office said Thursday that Jose Efrain Garcia was killed when gunmen blocked his vehicle on a road and opened fire. Garcia was mayor of the town of Tlanepantla, just east of Puebla. The area has been a hotbed of thieves drilling illegal taps into state-owned pipelines to steal fuel. At least 55 mayors or mayors-elect have been killed in Mexico since 2006, often by criminal gangs or corrupt police. On Wednesday, Mexico’s Green party said a female state assembly candidate was killed in the neighboring state of Michoacan. In February, two female state assembly candidates were slain in Guerrero. Violence threatens Mexico’s July 1 presidential and local elections.

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