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Mexican Mayor Gisela Mota Assassinated After Taking Office: Three Suspects In Custody

By Jennifer Ricketts
Published on: 11:32 PST, Jan 3, 2016

On New Year’s Day, Gisela Mota was sworn into office as mayor of the small city of Temixco, a city in Morelos State, Mexico, which has seen an upswing in organized crime. Mota, 33, was assassinated less than 24 hours after she was sworn in as mayor. Gisela Mota had run for office vowing to “combat organized crime frontally and directly” in the city.

According to local authorities, Mota was shot dead in her home around 7 a.m. Saturday in Pueblo Viejo, a small town that’s about two hours away from Mexico City. She’s believed to have been assassinated by a drug gang known as Los Rojos (“the Reds”), according to the newspaper El Universal.

After the mayor was assassinated, Mota’s bodyguards and police chased five suspects, which ended up in a shootout, killing two and arresting three. The suspects shot at police and soldiers. Evidence such as ammunition, weapons, ski masks, and bulletproof vests was recovered from the car the suspects used.

Morelos’ state prosecutor, Javier Pérez Durón, confirmed at a news conference three suspects linked to Gisela Mota’s assassination are in custody. He gave very little detail as to the identities of the suspects.

Mexican news website SinEmbargo reported one of three suspects detained by authorities told them the assailants were paid 500,000 Mexican pesos, which is about $29,000 in U.S. dollars, to assassinate the mayor.

On Sunday, the governor of the state of Morelos, Graco Ramírez, declared three days of official mourning and set the Mexican flag to half-staff.

Ramírez wrote on Twitter, “The presumed authors of the attack have been detained with all legality and resolve necessary. We will not return to how things were before. There will be no impunity.”

Mota was a member of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, which released a statement after her death describing the mayor as “a strong and brave woman who on taking office as mayor, declared that her fight against crime would be frontal and direct.”

Before becoming mayor, Gisela Mota had represented Morelos state as a congresswoman since 2013. Mota served as secretary of youth subjects and secretary of democratic education.

Roman Catholic Bishop Ramon Castro spoke Sunday at a memorial mass for Mota in Temixco, according to the newspaper Reforma.

“I hope and pray to God that Gisela’s death helps to make us all more conscious of the crime problem. I’m no expert, but the only thing I see is that various communities here are in the hands of organized crime — I’ve been saying that for a while, and begging, and no one has been able to do anything.”

The L.A. Times reports that the mayor is one of hundreds of public servants to be the victims of drug-related violence in Mexico. The Association of Local Mexican Authorities released a statement on Twitter, writing, “Urgent action is needed from the government to stop this wave of violence.”

Temixco has a population of about 100,000 people and is a suburb of Cuernavaca, which is known as “the city of eternal spring.” Violence has increased in the area over the last several years, driving away tourists and residents. Mashable reports there has been a sharp increase in murders in the southwest which borders Guerrero, a state with high levels of gang activity.

Governor Ramírez says the assassination of Mayor Gisela Mota is a warning from gangs and has ordered extra security measures for other mayors of the state of Morelos.

[Image via Twitter]

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