Yesenia Lara, Morena’s candidate for Texistepec mayor, and three supporters were gunned down at a campaign caravan. Authorities vow justice amid rising electoral violence.
On the evening of May 11, 2025, gunmen opened fire on a campaign caravan in Texistepec, Veracruz, killing Morena candidate for mayor Yesenia Lara and three of her supporters, and wounding three others. The attack, which took place less than a month before municipal elections on June 1, highlights the intensifying wave of political violence sweeping Mexico as local contests draw near.
Eyewitnesses say the assailants arrived in at least two vehicles and sprayed bullets into the crowd as Ms. Lara’s caravan wound through a rural stretch outside the municipal seat of Texistepec at around 9 p.m. local time. Among the dead alongside Ms. Lara, 49, were her campaign manager and two longtime community organizers. Three others, including a local schoolteacher and a small–business owner, were hospitalized with serious—but non-life-threatening—injuries.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the killings in a statement released late Monday, describing it as “an intolerable attack on democracy” and pledging federal support for Veracruz authorities. “We will spare no resource to bring these criminals to justice,” she said. Governor Rocío Nahle, also of Morena, called for an emergency session of the Veracruz state legislature to approve enhanced security measures for all candidates and declared three days of official mourning.
Security forces have cordoned off the scene and launched a manhunt for the perpetrators in coordination with Mexico’s federal attorney general’s office. State Police Chief Juan Torres said at a press briefing Tuesday that investigators are analyzing ballistics and video from several nearby homes, and have identified possible escape routes into the nearby hills. “We have reason to believe this was a targeted assassination carried out by an organized-crime cell,” Torres said, but he declined to name the suspected group pending further evidence.
This brutal incident follows the high-profile killing in March of German Anuar, another Morena candidate in Coxquihui, also in Veracruz, underscoring the region’s status as one of the deadliest for politicians. According to tracking by Integralia Consultores, 34 candidates were murdered nationwide during the 2024–25 campaign season, with Veracruz accounting for 7 of those killings. More than 100 violent incidents against political actors—ranging from threats and kidnappings to assaults—have been documented in the first three months of 2025 alone.
Local civic groups reacted with horror. María del Carmen López of the Veracruz chapter of the civic platform “México 1 Punto 5” said, “Texistepec—and Veracruz at large—has become a hunting ground for those who wish to impose their will by terror. Voters are terrified, and it undermines the very essence of democracy.” Meanwhile, opposition PAN spokesperson Javier Corona called for the removal of Veracruz’s security minister and demanded a federal-level inquiry under the terms of the National Guard law.
The violence has also prompted calls to revisit Mexico’s election-security framework. In 2018, lawmakers strengthened the law on electoral crimes (Ley General en Materia de Delitos Electorales) to prosecute attacks against candidates, but enforcement remains uneven. Civil-society groups argue that local police often lack the resources or political will to confront powerful criminal networks intertwined with local power structures. “We need an independent, adequately funded body to protect those who seek office,” said Aline García of the NGO Observatorio Electoral.
On the campaign trail, morale among Morena volunteers in Texistepec is low. María Pérez, who volunteered on Ms. Lara’s team, said her colleagues are torn between fear and resolve. “Some want to quit. Others insist that we honor Yesenia’s vision by carrying on. But nobody feels safe,” she said. The local party office has since deployed extra guards and turned the campaign headquarters into a 24-hour operation with bulletproof glass and security cameras.
Federal Interior Minister Omar García Harfuch announced plans to deploy additional National Guard units to Veracruz ahead of next week’s debates in municipalities across the state. He also invited international observers—from the Organization of American States and the European Union—to monitor election-day proceedings on June 1. “Transparency and security are inseparable,” he said.
Despite the gravity of the situation, political violence is nothing new to Veracruz, a state long plagued by drug-trafficking rivalries and corrupt local fiefdoms. From 2010 to 2020, Veracruz recorded the country’s highest homicide rate for mayors and candidates, according to CONEVAL. Experts attribute much of the insecurity to the fragmentation of cartels after the fall of the Zetas and Gulf Cartel leadership, leading to turf wars and opportunistic racketeering against high-profile targets.
As the June 1 elections approach, authorities vow tougher measures. But with just weeks to go, many voters in Veracruz wonder whether they can cast a ballot free from intimidation. “We deserve to choose our leaders without bullets,” said Eduardo Ramírez, a small-business owner in a neighboring town. “If they can kill a mayoral candidate, who’s safe?”
