Marco Antonio Leal Garcia, Mayor In Mexican Border State, Killed
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico — Gunmen killed the mayor of a town in the drug-plagued Mexican border state of Tamaulipas on Sunday in a region where suspected cartel hitmen recently massacred 72 migrants, the government said.
Hidalgo Mayor Marco Antonio Leal Garcia was the second mayor to be assassinated in the past two weeks in the area, which has become a battleground between the Gulf and Zetas cartels.
President Felipe Calderon condemned the attack on Leal Garcia, which left the mayor's daughter wounded.
"This cowardly crime, and the reprehensible violent acts that occurred recently in this state, strengthen the commitment of the Mexican government to continue fighting the criminal gangs that seek to intimidate the families of Tamaulipas," Calderon's office said in a statement.
Leal Garcia's rural town, Hidalgo, has about 25,000 inhabitants. It lies southwest of a part of Tamaulipas where a massacre survivor said Zetas gunmen killed 72 Central and South American migrants last week.
Hidalgo is also near the border with Nuevo Leon state, where the mayor of another town, Santiago, was found murdered on Aug. 18. Local police allied with a drug gang are suspected in that killing.
There were no immediate details on a possible motive in Leal Garcia's slaying, but Calderon's reference to "criminal gangs" and the nature of the slaying suggest drug cartel involvement. Local media reported Leal Garcia was killed as he left his ranch.
Tamaulipas state security officials did not answer phone calls seeking comment.
Some cartels have been known to carry out targeted shootings that kill the intended victim, but not children riding in the same vehicle. Leal Garcia's daughter was reportedly shot in the leg.
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