In the pulsating core of Mexico's avocado belt, outspoken mayor Carlos Manzo was gunned down on 1 November 2025 amid Day of the Dead celebrations in Uruapan, Michoacan. Bullets tore through the festive crowd as the 40-year-old independent leader, a vocal foe of cartel extortion, succumbed to wounds that silenced his pleas for robust federal defences against the chokehold of organised crime.
With two assailants arrested and a third killed at the scene, the assassination has reignited fears of cartel retaliation and added to Mexico's grim 2025 tally of murdered officials. The killing has drawn international attention to the country's deepening security crisis.
