Violent protests have erupted in Mexico’s Michoacan state over the killing of an outspoken anti-crime mayor while participating in Day of the Dead celebrations over the weekend.
Protests began Sunday in the state capital, Morelia, under the slogan “Enough of abuse and inaction”. The demonstrations turned violent, with some people storming the government palace in Morelia. Local authorities confirmed eight arrests.
On Tuesday, Apatzingan city authorities confirmed that people set fire to City Hall and said in a Facebook post that the violence was carried out by “shock groups with objectives far from building true peace.”
The shocking killing of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo on Saturday was one of the violent incidents that sparked protests in the state. There was also latent anger over the murder of Bernardo Bravo Manriquez, president of the local citrus growers association in Apatzingan. Manriquez was found dead in October, days after calling for increased security for farmworkers.
David Mora, a senior Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group, told CNN that the killings of both men, who occupied different sectors of society, showed how violence affects every part of life in Michoacán.
Mora said the protests were “an honest response from the people of Michoacán, who have lived in extreme insecurity and extreme violence for many years.”
Manzo’s killing on Saturday added to a wave of violence affecting the southwestern Mexican state, where then-President Felipe Calderon launched what he called a “war” on organized crime in December 2006. Since then, violence has continued despite changes in government at the state and federal levels.
Insecurity has forced residents of some towns in Michoacán and neighboring Jalisco to abandon their homes altogether, creating a number of “ghost towns” in rural areas between the two states.
Demonstrators mentioned both Mr. Manzo and Mr. Bravo at this week’s protests.
“For my family, for you guys, for Mexico, for Carlos, for Bernardo, for all the fallen, sons of bitches!” one man shouted in a video filmed by Reuters on Monday. Other footage from protests across Michoacán shows many protesters wearing cowboy-style hats in homage to the late mayor’s dressing style.
Protesters interviewed by Reuters decried extortion and violence common in Michoacán state, where lemon and avocado farmers are often forced to pay exorbitant bribes to drug lords.
“We are tired as a people,” said one demonstrator.
Manzo was attacked on Saturday, shortly after finishing a livestream on social media at a Day of the Dead event. Michoacán’s attorney general announced Monday that the suspected attacker, who was killed at the scene but has not been identified, was a teenager believed to be between 17 and 19 years old.
The official added that authorities believe the crime was planned by an organized crime group, but did not provide further details.
Mr. Manzo is a popular figure in local politics in Michoacán and was elected on a platform of tough-on-crime policies.
In a typical video posted on social media in May, Manzo, wearing a bulletproof vest and distinctive cowboy hat, addresses local police and warns them not to show “leniency” to criminals.
“If we encounter criminals who are armed and resist arrest or attack civilians, if we find them during operations, we must defeat them. We must not be lenient with them,” Manzo said.
The late mayor was also a fierce critic of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her party’s approach to national security issues. Manzo frequently posted announcements of new arrests on his Facebook page and implored the Sheinbaum government to tighten security in the face of crime and extortion in the city.
In a recent post that Manzo implored his followers to share widely, he called on Sheinbaum to “not leave Uruapan alone in the fight against federal crime. We have a responsibility to address federal crime.” CNN has reached out to Sheinbaum’s office for comment.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum spent much of his morning press conference talking about Manzo’s death and the Michoacán state government’s “plan for peace and justice.”
“Our mission is to uncover the truth and serve justice in the despicable murder of Carlos Manzo,” Sheinbaum said.
Mr. Sheinbaum said his plan targets the roots of crime through strategic investments in education, living wages for agricultural workers, and strengthening rural infrastructure. The plan also includes “increasing the presence of federal troops in Michoacán,” according to a document released by the president’s office after the press conference.
Mora doesn’t think there’s much new in Sheinbaum’s proposal, especially regarding the increase in federal troops in Michoacán.
“She’s trying to build on what we’ve seen not necessarily work in other states and other parts of Mexico,” Mora said. “She’s sending in more troops, and that’s basically what they’ve been doing in Sinaloa for the past year.”
He said crime and murder rates have not decreased despite the military presence in Sinaloa state, home to Mexico’s oldest and most violent criminal organizations.
“If you look at the number of homicides and other crimes, there is no direct correlation between the presence of federal troops in the state and fewer homicides and other crimes,” Mora continued.
Mora pointed out that violence is not new in Michoacán either. According to official data from January to September of this year, there were 1,024 intentional homicides in Michoacán, making it the state with the seventh highest number of homicides in Mexico by 2025.
This number is lower than the 2024 figure, but details on whether the number is directly related to organized crime are unclear. Civil society groups believe the real number is even higher.
“But this reaction is organic and sincere, disgusted with the security situation in the state and something new,” Mora said of the protests.
