Mexican mayoral candidate found decapitated

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico, March 12 (UPI) -- The decapitated body of Aidé Nava, a mayoral candidate, was found on Wednesday in the city of Chilpancingo in the Mexican state of Guerrero, one of the nation's most violent states.

The politician was kidnapped on Tuesday. Her son was kidnapped last year and is yet to be found and her husband, who was a former mayor, was also previously murdered.

Elections in Guerrero and eight other Mexican states are scheduled to be held in June. A letter signed by Los Rojos, one of the main criminal organizations in the state, was found near Nava's body and said politicians would be executed if they did not "fall into line." Nava belonged to the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).

"Unfortunately [her body] was found and the requirement is that justice in this case and others is made," PRD Guerrero state leader Celestino Cesáreo Guzmán said. "This unfortunate fact certainly alerts us all. However, the electoral process will continue and therefore [we] demand that the safety of all candidates and all parties be guaranteed."

Matan a precandidata del PRD en Gro, Aidé Nava G ¿ELECCIONES SEGURAS? @adiazpi @drfidelmaruri @viole0204 @INEMexico pic.twitter.com/tlFPqxb90V

Advertisement

— CLEMENTE SANCHEZ Z (@MEX1308) March 12, 2015

"Candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party in Guerrero Aidé Nava killed. Safe elections?" one tweet reads. There are doubts over the success of the coming elections in Guerrero.

The news comes just weeks after Mexico's attorney general officially declared the 43 university students, reported missing in September after clashes with police in Guerrero state, dead.

Authorities arrested nearly 100 people and obtained 39 confessions in connection with the Sept. 26 attack, which occurred as students from Normal Rural de Ayotzinapa attempted to leave the town of Iguala aboard three commercial buses they had earlier commandeered -- a common practice among students of the school and largely tolerated. Police blocked the buses and then opened fire. A number of students were taken away by the police and 43 were ultimately reported missing.