CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico, June 29 (UPI) -- The leading candidate for governor in the violence-torn Mexican state of Tamaulipas was ambushed and killed, officials said.
Mexican and U.S. officials said the deaths of Rodolfo Torre and four other people Monday point up the pervasive influence exerted by criminal organizations as well as their determination about having a say in who governs Mexico, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned the assassination and called for unity, saying the action was "an act not only against a candidate of a political party but against democratic institutions, and it requires a united and firm response from all those who work for democracy."
A State Department spokesman said the U.S. government "lamented the loss of life."
The two-vehicle convoy carrying Torre, 46, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, was ambushed on a highway just outside Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas. At least five other men, including bodyguards and a congressman who was working with Torre on his campaign, were killed in the ambush, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Officials declined to comment about the investigation into Torre's killing, the Morning News said.
"This signals that things are going to get considerably worse before they get better," Douglas Farah, a Washington-based security consultant and one-time reporter who covered Colombia's drug wars told the Dallas newspaper. "That's sad for Mexico. Because once this cycle starts, it's really hard to stop before more damage is inflicted."
Tamaulipas and neighboring Nuevo Leon have seen increased violence as one-time criminal allies turn on one another, observers said.
The state's elections office said the elections scheduled for Sunday would continue and Torre's party can select a substitute candidate.
