The mayor of Temoac, a municipality in the central Mexican state of Morelos, was shot and killed inside government offices Wednesday, authorities said, marking the latest attack on a local official in a country where nearly 100 mayors have been murdered since 2006.
The Morelos state prosecutor's office said Mayor Valentín Lavín Romero was found dead inside the municipal building after an armed attack. Investigators and forensic personnel responded to the scene, while authorities launched an operation to identify and arrest those responsible, as CBS News reports.
Lavín, a member of President Claudia Sheinbaum's Morena coalition through the Green Party (PVEM), had survived a previous assassination attempt in January while traveling on the Mexico-Oaxaca highway. He previously served as mayor from 2019 to 2021 and was elected again in 2024 for a term running through 2027.
According to Mexican news outlet Proceso, Lavín had been mentioned in investigations tied to Operativo Enjambre, a law enforcement operation examining alleged extortion schemes and possible links between public officials and organized crime in Morelos. Citing security sources, the outlet reported that investigators were examining allegations connecting the mayor to criminal structures operating in the region.
Proceso also reported that relatives of two slain activists and residents interviewed by the publication had accused Lavín of involvement in acts of violence and extortion. Those allegations have not resulted in publicly reported convictions.
The killing comes as criminal organizations continue targeting local officials, particularly in regions where rival groups compete for territorial control. Last week, gunmen killed the husband of a municipal councilwoman and wounded the official and her daughter in another attack in central Mexico.
Official figures show that almost 100 Mexican mayors have been killed since 2006, when the government launched its military campaign against drug cartels. According to Uno TV, 14 mayors have been murdered since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024, including three so far this year.
The attack comes amid an ongoing debate over security under Sheinbaum's administration. The president has repeatedly credited her security strategy for reducing homicides, saying back in November that killings had fallen by nearly half since September 2024.
But that narrative has been challenged by security specialists, who argue that homicide figures alone do not capture the scope of violence in Mexico. Analysts interviewed by CNN noted that official homicide statistics may be incomplete and pointed to rising disappearances, extortion and localized spikes in violence, including in Morelos, where Lavín was eventually killed, as evidence that insecurity remains severe despite the nationwide decline in reported homicides.
