During Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla’s administration in Michoacán, the state has seen a staggering number of murders, with seven mayors and two businessmen killed. The most recent murder was that of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, on Saturday, November 1st, during a Day of the Dead celebration.
To date, none of the seven murders have been solved, nor have the perpetrators been apprehended.
The Murder of the Mayor of Contepec
On February 7, 2022, the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office confirmed the shooting death of Enrique Velázquez Orozco, the mayor of Contepec.
The mayor’s body was found on a property in the community of El Jacal, in the municipality located on the border with the State of Mexico.
The day before he disappeared, Velázquez Orozco, along with the entire City Council, led the commemoration of the 105th anniversary of the promulgation of the 1917 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.
Enrique Velázquez Orozco was a Veterinary Doctor specializing in Animal Husbandry, having graduated from the Michoacán University, and was elected for the 2021-2024 term under the PRI banner.
The assassination of the mayor of Aguililla
On March 10, 2022, César Arturo Valencia Caballero, mayor of Aguililla, Michoacán, was shot and killed.
Reports indicate that the mayor was in his truck outside the municipal soccer field when an individual opened fire on him.
Hours earlier, Valencia Caballero, of the Green Party of Mexico, had held a meeting at the municipal hall with federal government officials.
“I am here next to César’s body. It is a truly tragic event. He was traveling in a vehicle belonging to the mayor’s office; he was alone, and it appears he was stopped, presumably by armed men who spoke with him, and then they shot him,” said Father Gilberto Vergara García, the parish priest of Aguililla, at the time.
The Assassination of the Mayor of Churumuco
On March 30, 2024, Guillermo Torres Rojas, the mayor of Churumuco, was killed in an attack in the city of Morelia, Michoacán.
The attack was carried out by armed men while the mayor was having dinner with his family at a taco stand in the Michoacán capital.
Guillermo Torres, 39, won the previous election representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and a year later he left that political organization and publicly declared his support for the National Regeneration Movement (Morena).
The Assassination of the Mayor of Cotija
On June 4, 2024, Yolanda Sánchez, the National Action Party (PAN) mayor of Cotija, was assassinated. It was reported that a criminal cell calling itself “Calaveras,” belonging to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), claimed responsibility for the attack against the politician and her bodyguard. The attack occurred as she was traveling to a gym in the city center.
The assassination took place on Javier Mina Street, near the main plaza in the municipality of Cotija, while she was traveling in her SUV.
Both she and her bodyguard were seriously wounded by the gunfire and taken to the Los Reyes Regional Hospital; the mayor ultimately died.
The attack against Yolanda Sánchez was not the first. On September 23, the mayor had been kidnapped in Zapopan, Jalisco. The account of events indicates that on Friday (September 22), he traveled to the city of Guadalajara with two relatives for a medical appointment and shopping.
The assassination of the mayor of Tacámbaro
On June 5, 2025, the mayor of Tacámbaro, Michoacán, Salvador Bastida García, and his bodyguard were shot and killed inside his vehicle.
The state prosecutor’s office indicated that shortly before midnight, the mayor was arriving at his home on Fuerte de Loreto Street in the Centro neighborhood when he was attacked by several gunmen.
The mayor, a member of the Labor Party, was wounded at the scene and received first aid before being taken to the María Zendejas Hospital, where his death was confirmed minutes later.
In December 2024, the Attorney General’s Office announced that it had opened an investigation against the mayor, Salvador Bastida García, and several of his officials for alleged ties to organized crime.
The Assassination of the Mayor of Tepalcatepec
On June 17, 2025, Martha Laura Mendoza Mendoza, the mayor of Tepalcatepec, was assassinated. Her husband, Ulises Sánchez Ochoa, also died in the attack.
At the time, a 1-minute, 8-second video recording was obtained documenting the arrival of the assailant and the execution of the double homicide, which took place in broad daylight in the town’s downtown area, on Francisco Villa Street.
At the 23-second mark of the video, a blue sedan appears, approaches, and parks directly behind the SUV. An armed man gets out and walks straight toward the mayor and her husband. According to witnesses, he opened fire with a long gun. Later, the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office specified that it was a 9mm caliber weapon.
After firing, the assailant calmly returned to the vehicle, got into the driver’s seat, and fled. The entire attack was recorded, and the total time from when he got out of the car until his escape was just 14 seconds.
The assassination of Carlos Manzo, mayor of Uruapan
On November 1, 2025, a group of hitmen shot and killed Carlos Manzo Rodríguez, mayor of the municipality of Uruapan, Michoacán, while he was attending a Candle Festival for the traditional Day of the Dead celebrations.
The attack occurred around 8:00 p.m. in Uruapan’s main square, known as the Municipal Pergola, where he was celebrating with hundreds of Uruapan residents, including several children, at the traditional lighting of the Candle Festival.
The mayor was reportedly shot six times and was transported alive by ambulance to Fray Juan de San Miguel Hospital, where he died. A municipal official, close to the mayor, was also wounded but is now out of danger.
Meanwhile, Manzo Rodríguez’s bodyguards killed one of the gunmen in the square and arrested two more, who are now being investigated to determine which drug cartel they belong to.
The murder of lemon businessman Bernardo Bravo
On October 20, 2025, Bernardo Bravo Manríquez, president of the Citrus Growers Association of the Apatzingán Valley (ACVA), was found dead.
The businessman dedicated his life to lemon farming, a family legacy that ended in tragedy. The youngest son of “Don Berna” Bravo Valencia, a pioneer of the lemon trade in the region, Bernardo was murdered at the age of 41, in the same brutal manner as his father was killed just over a decade ago.
His body was found inside his pickup truck, abandoned on a dirt road leading to the community of Los Tepetates, in his hometown of Apatzingán. According to initial investigations, he was kidnapped Sunday afternoon by an armed group, taken to the town of Cenobio Moreno, and tortured before being murdered.
Bravo Manríquez’s murder occurred one day after he called, via social media, for a meeting with lemon producers to “kick the coyotes’ asses,” as he called the middlemen who, according to him, operated under the orders of organized crime.
The Murder of Lemon Farmer Alejandro Torres
On November 1, 2025, Alejandro Torres Mora, a lemon farmer and nephew of Hipólito Mora Chávez, the former leader and founder of the self-defense groups, was shot to death along with his wife inside their home in the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, La Ruana, Michoacán.
Relatives of Torres demanded an explanation from the authorities regarding what happened in that Tierra Caliente region, claiming that his wife and husband were tortured before being killed.
For reasons that no authorities have explained, two soldiers and one member of the Specialized Investigation Unit were injured and are reported to be in serious condition.
Source: lasillarota
