Michoacán Mayoral Candidate's SUV Shot in Assassination Attempt; He Now Plans to Stop Campaigning

"HEARST" and "Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Over the weekend, gunmen attacked an SUV belonging to Morelia, Michoacan, mayoral candidate Guillermo "Memo" Valencia Reyes after a campaign rally in San Juanito Itzicuaro.

Three people were inside the vehicle when it was attacked: Memo's brother Rene and two of his campaign managers. Memo had just gotten off the vehicle minutes prior.

He said the vehicle shot “[was] the van in which [he] always traveled in,” but that he had changed vehicles so he could go home and rest after the rally.

The attack occurred outside the home of a campaign staffer on Constelaciones Street in the Cosmos subdivision. He said that the staffer was regularly dropped off at that location after campaign events.

Two of the three were injured and are said to be in serious condition. They were both transported to a nearby hospital. Elements of the Attorney General's Office (FGE) and the Secretary of Public Safety (SSP) were sent to guard the hospital while they received medical care.

After the attack, Memo reported that he will cancel his political activities until further notice to "rethink his campaign". Elections will take place on June 6, 2021.

"My concern now is that my colleagues recover. They are fortunately out of danger. I will await the results of the investigations and will no make speculations on the case", Memo said on social media.

In the video above, one can see how two subjects surround Memo's campaign SUV and start shooting. Investigators believe that the gunmen thought Memo was in the vehicle.

Background

Memo is running for mayor of Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as mayor of Tepalcatepec Municipality until 2014, following accusations that linked him to La Familia Michoacana, a drug cartel based in Michoacan.

In July 2011, Mexico's former Attorney General's Office (FGR) opened investigation based on protect witness testimonies that claimed that that Memo had met with drug kingpins Servando Gomez Martinez ("La Tuta") and Nazario Moreno Gonzalez ("El Chayo") to work with them.

However, Memo said that these accusations were made by his political rivals to stain his reputation, including the Farias brothers (Juan José Farías Alvarez, alias "El Abuelo", being one of them). In an interview with Univision, he explained that the cartel members summoned mayors in Michoacan to meet with them and that they had no other option but to agree to their concessions.

"It was silver or lead (plata o plomo)", he said.

Morelia, Michoacan mayoral candidate Guillermo Valencia Reyes (pictured). He announced he was running for mayor on 8 April 2021.

On April 18, 2013, when Memo was mayor of Tepalcatepec, a group of armed men allegedly linked to the self-defense (autodefensa) groups arrived at the mayor's office to reportedly kidnap him. They accused him of following orders from the Knights Templar, an offshoot of La Familia Michoacana. Days later, Memo fled from Tepalcatepec to Morelia, and eventually to the US.

According to a 2014 investigation by Mexican media outlet SinEmbargo, which analyzed financial and public work documents from Tepalcaepec's Municipal Office, Memo used his position as mayor to pay construction projects to shell companies owned family members of the Knights Templar Cartel.

Many of these constructions were either poorly executed or never carried out, the report said. However, federal authorities later determined that the criminal accusations against him were insufficient and the investigation was dropped.

Sources: Proceso; Monitor Expresso (Video); SinEmbargo; La Jornada; Milenio; Univision; Noticieros Televisa; Excelsior; A Tiempo Noticias