Featured photojournalist: Alexandre Meneghini

Musicians look for clients willing to pay for a song at an empty Papagayo beach in Acapulco, Mexico. Once a glamorous hub for international tourism, Acapulco's image has steadily deteriorated as a conflict escalates between rival drug cartels Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Cliff divers warm up as they prepare to perform at La Quebrada, Acapulco Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Diver Giovani Vargas, 19, prays to an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe before performing at La Quebrada cliffs. The sport began here in the early 1930s, when residents started a challenge to see who could dive from the highest point – a ritual that turned into one of Acapulco's must-see shows for tourists Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

A Mexican soldier inspects a burned-out car in an Acapulco neighbourhood Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Inspections on the car continue Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Frederico Martinez, a 25-year-old bus driver, rides a public bus with his wife and child Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Press photographers gather around a cardboard box containing a human head, dumped on a city street Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

A forensic specialist checks the body of a man killed in one of Acapulco's more impoverished neighbourhoods Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

An employee at the local morgue opens a door covered with pictures of the missing Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

A child sits under a ballot box as local-election commission employees count votes Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

A police officer stands by a mural depicting religious figures Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Officers secure an area where human remains were dumped on the street inside a plastic bag Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Tourists spend the evening on a Papagayo beach Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

A body lies beside a road on the outskirts of Acapulco Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Residents pass the bullet-riddled window of a local bar Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/AP