Mayor shot dead in southern Mexico, investigation underway

A mayor was shot dead in an area of southern Mexico where drug cartels are battling to control trafficking routes, local authorities said Saturday (June 13, 2026).

Joel Bravo — the mayor of San Miguel Amatitlan, a town of nearly 7,000 residents — died in an armed attack, prosecutors in Oaxaca state said in a statement, without offering further details about the incident.

“In Oaxaca, we will not allow violence to prevail over the law or over the will of our communities,” state Governor Salomon Jara said in a post on X, condemning the killing.

Prosecutors said the police presence in the area had been stepped up and a tactical team deployed, in cooperation with federal forces, in order to track down the assailants.

State ​investigators and forensic ‌teams were dispatched to the scene shortly after the attack to process evidence and recover the body, the prosecutor’s ‌office said in a statement, adding ​that it was coordinating with federal security officials.

Authorities did not ⁠immediately provide further details about a possible motive for the killing of Bravo, ‌who belonged to a coalition of opposition parties, including the PAN (National Action Party).

Violence against local officials remains a concern in parts of Mexico, where organised crime groups often wield ‌influence, particularly in rural areas. Mario Hernandez Garcia, ​the mayor of another Oaxaca town, Santiago Amoltepec, died last month in an ⁠attack that also left two other ⁠people dead.

The Jalisco Nueva Generacion and Sinaloa cartels are both active in Oaxaca, which borders the Pacific Ocean.

Nearly 100 mayors have been assassinated in Mexico since 2006, when drug violence exploded in the country.

(With inputs from AFP and Reuters)