Latest news with #Brugada
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gunman kills Mexico City mayor's top aides
The private secretary and an adviser to the mayor of Mexico City were gunned down in an attack in the Mexican capital Tuesday. Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz died 'during a direct attack,' in the Moderna neighborhood. Brugada, as mayor of Mexico City, holds the country's second most powerful political office after the country's President Claudia Sheinbaum. Brugada and Sheinbaum are allies in the Morena party. The Mexico City Attorney General's Office said the attack took place when the two officials were on their way to work and their vehicle was intercepted. Authorities are analyzing a security camera video circulating on social media that allegedly captured the moment Guzmán and Muñoz were shot. It showed a man approaching a parked car and getting in, while another man wearing a helmet stands on the road and fires at the vehicle. The attacker then flees the scene. CNN contacted the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection to find out if the video corresponds to the attack that occurred on Tuesday. They responded that it is under investigation. The attack took place between Calzada de Tlalpan and Napoleón Street. Authorities said Wednesday they have identified at least four people who allegedly participated in the attack. 'Given the dynamics of the events, it is concluded that it was a direct and highly planned attack, and that those who carried it out had prior experience,' Prosecutor Bertha Alcalde Luján told a press conference Wednesday. Alcalde said the motive for the attack was still being investigated and that nothing could be ruled out. Authorities seized a motorcycle near the scene and a vehicle in the Iztacalco borough, possibly linked to the incident, according to a joint bulletin from the Citizen Security Secretariat and the Attorney General's Office. Brugada said her government was 'deeply saddened' by the loss of their colleagues, describing Guzmán as a wonderful and kind woman, and Muñoz as one of the smartest people she's ever met. Sheinbaum expressed condolences to the loved ones of the two officials during her press conference Tuesday morning and offered her support to the investigation. 'We will get to the bottom of this situation and ensure justice is served,' Sheinbaum said. The president said both Guzmán and Muñoz had been 'working in our movement (the Morena party) for a long time; we have known them.' Attacks on politicians are common in Mexico. Last year, the country saw a record number of victims from political violence, with Data Cívica, a human rights organization, reporting 661 attacks on people and facilities. Many of the victims either held or were running for municipal-level positions. In May 2024 a mayoral candidate was killed during a campaign stop in the southern state of Guerrero, in a shooting that was captured on video. Days later, the mayor of Cotija in Michoacán state was shot dead as she was walking from a gym back to her house with her bodyguard. In October, the mayor of Guerrero's capital Chilpancingo was killed less than a week after taking office. Earlier this month, a mayoral candidate in Veracruz state was gunned down alongside three other people during live broadcast of a campaign rally. CNN's Michael Rios contributed to this report.
NBC News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Two top aides to Mexico City mayor shot dead by motorbike killers
MEXICO CITY — Two top aides of Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada were shot dead after being ambushed by gunmen on a motorbike in a daytime attack in the city center on Tuesday. The victims were the mayor's private secretary, Ximena Guzmán, and an adviser to Brugada, José Muñoz, according to a statement from the city. The assassinations have sent shockwaves through Mexico's capital, widely regarded as an oasis of relative security in a country plagued by violence. Political violence has become common in many parts of Mexico, where scores of local political candidates have been assassinated in killings usually linked to drug cartels seeking to exert influence. Initial reports indicated Guzmn had been driving to work and stopped on a busy avenue in downtown Mexico City to pick up her colleague, an official at the federal prosecutor's office said. Muñoz was approached by two gunmen on a motorbike who shot and killed him in the street. The attackers then fired at least four shots at Guzmán inside the vehicle, killing her. Authorities have not yet given a motive for the attack although security experts say it appeared to be a hit carried out by organized crime. Mexico City's civil security office said that a motorbike had been seized not far from attack, as well as another vehicle in the Iztacalco neighborhood, while investigators were looking into ballistic and fingerprint evidence from the scene. 'I feel very sad for the loss of Ximena and Pepe (Jose), with whom for many years we shared dreams and struggles,' a noticeably distressed Brugada said. She thanked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her cabinet for the support and cooperation they had provided since the attack. Sheinbaum is a former mayor of Mexico City. 'It is a deplorable incident and we are going to give all the support that the mayor may need,' Sheinbaum said. Brugada added that there would be no impunity for those responsible for the killing. She was not in the car when the attack took place, a Mexico City government official told Reuters. Photos in local media showed a black Audi with four bullet holes in the front window and a sheet covering what appeared to be one body, while another body was covered with a white sheet on the pavement. Police patrols taped off the area so forensic specialists could examine the scene. 'It was a harsh message sent to Clara (Brugada), undoubtedly perpetrated by drug traffickers,' said David Saucedo, a public security specialist. Groups affected by drug seizures have previously launched attacks against the capital's authorities, he said. In 2020 then Mexico City police chief Omar García Harfuch, now the federal security minister, was shot and injured in an assassination attempt that killed two of his bodyguards. That attack was blamed by him on one of the country's most powerful drug groups, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gunman kills Mexico City mayor's top aides in roadside attack
A gunman has shot dead two top aides of the mayor of Mexico City, Clara Brugada. The mayor's private secretary, Ximena Guzmán, and Brugada's adviser, José Muñoz, were killed on their way to work on Tuesday morning local time. Witnesses said an armed man first opened fire on Guzmán, who had stopped her car by the side of a busy avenue to pick up her colleague, and then on Muñoz, who was about to get into Guzmán's car for their morning commute. The gunman is believed to have escaped on a motorbike and have had at least one accomplice. The possible motive for the killing is still unknown but the attack is the latest in a series of murders of local politicians across the country. Mayor Brugada was visibly upset during a news conference when she recalled how she had "shared dreams and struggles" with her two aides over the years they had worked for her. She said she would ensure the murder of her two aides would not go unpunished. President Claudia Sheinbaum was informed of the shooting during her daily morning news conference by the security minister, Omar García Harfuch, who has himself been a target of an armed ambush in the past. President Sheinbaum described it as "a deplorable incident" and offered Mayor Brugada, who is from the same party as the president, all the support she may need. Police seized a motorbike and another vehicle they think was used in the attack, while forensic experts examined Guzmán's bullet-pierced car. CCTV footage from a nearby building shows a man carrying a motorcycle helmet in one hand and a gun in another approach Guzmán's car from the front. He fires through the windscreen, then shoots Muñoz, before again firing at Guzmán. As he runs away, he turns around and fires another shot at Muñoz, who is collapsing on the pavement. Brugada, 61, was elected mayor of Mexico City in June of last year. The position is considered the second most powerful in the country after that of the president. While local politicians, especially the mayors of small towns, are often targeted in Mexico, attacks on politicians in the capital are more unusual. One high-profile exception is the ambush in 2020 of García Harfuch, who was Mexico City's chief of police at the time. More than two dozen gunmen opened fire on his car and killed two of his bodyguards and a passer-by in one of the most brazen attacks to have occurred in the city. García Harfuch was hit three times, but survived and went on to become Mexico's security minister in October of last year. He said the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful criminal groups, was behind that incident. Investigators have not yet said who they think was behind Tuesday's murder of the two aides, but security experts say the deliberate and precise way the gunman operated indicates that he is a professional hitman. Seven Mexican youths shot dead at church festivity Mexican mayor murdered days after starting job Mexico launches raids after assassination attempt
Euronews
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Two close aides of Mexico City mayor shot dead in daylight attack
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada's personal secretary Ximena Guzmán and adviser José Muñoz were assassinated as they travelled to work on Tuesday morning, the country's authorities have said. The two were shot dead at around 7 am on a busy thoroughfare in the capital's Moderna neighbourhood. An investigation has been launched into their murders, which experts say show the hallmarks of an organised crime hit. It is the worst attack in recent years against public officials in the capital — where political violence is less common than in other parts of the country. Photos from the crime scene show an Audi's windscreen riddled with bullet holes. Mexico security analyst David Saucedo, who questioned why someone as senior as Guzmán did not have a security detail, said the murders were likely carried out to put pressure on Brugada's administration. Mexican President Sheinbaum, of the Morena party to which Brugada also belongs, condemned the killings at her daily morning press conference. 'We will not let this cowardly act go unpunished,' said Omar García Harfuch, the country's security minister who survived an assassination attempt five years ago while he was the city's police chief. Brugada paid tribute to Guzmán and Muñoz shortly after their deaths, before vowing to continue her administration's 'relentless fight against insecurity'. Mexico capital's mayor, who had worked with them both for years, called Guzmán a 'wonderful, tireless' person and described Muñoz as 'one of the most intelligent people' she had ever met. 'We in the city's cabinet are shocked and mourn the loss of two dear comrades,' Brugada said. Homicides in Mexico City in the first quarter of 2025 were slightly up from the same period the previous year. The murders on Tuesday follow the recent killings of political figures elsewhere in the country, including a mayoral candidate in Veracruz state who was gunned down along with three others at a campaign rally earlier this month.
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Mexico City Mayor's Aides Shot Dead By Bike-Borne Assailants In Broad Daylight; Hunt On For Suspects
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada's personal secretary and advisor were shot dead in broad daylight on May 20. Gunmen riding a motorcycle shot dead Brugada's private secretary, Ximena Guzman, and adviser, Jose Munoz. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the killings and said that there would not be impunity. Watch this video to know more.
