Comonfort, Guanajuato: CSRL Stronghold's New Mayor Under Siege

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

Gilberto Zarate Nieves, the Morena mayor-elect of Comonfort, Guanajuato, has faced a wave of violence against himself and his associates in recent weeks. Armed attacks have targeted his son, a future tourism director, and a lawyer slated to become the town hall director. The CSRL, the region's dominant criminal group, is suspected of being behind these attacks

According to local security expert David Saucedo, the Cártel de Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) are the only group with the coordinating capacity and regional control to mount these attacks in Comonfort. Saucedo further explained that since Mayors and Mayors-elect are protected by the National Guard, criminal groups shift their targeting focus to their unprotected families and associates, as seen in similar political attacks in the Guanajuato regions of Valle de Santiago, Cortazar, and Tarimaro.

Guanajuato, the most violent state in Mexico by homicide count, is also one of the states with highest rates of political violence, found ACLED, an NGO focused on conflict data. Their report links the criminal conflict to control of illicit economies including extortion and illegal fuel sales (huachicoleo). Within this conflict criminals aim to control and influence local politicians as they direct the provision of contracts, local security forces, and control local budgets.

The issue of political violence in Guanajuato is further supported by figures from Data Civica in their report "Votar entre balas" (voting between bullets), which recorded 65 killings of politicians, candidates, political party workers and their families in the state between 2018 and now.

Map of attacks against associates of the mayor-elect Gilberto Zarate Nieves

The three attacks

Gilberto Zárate Lomas wounded in an ambush

The first attack occurred on September 2nd, when armed men attacked and wounded Gilberto Zárate Lomas, the son of the mayor-elect while he was entering the town of Empalme Escobedo in a Grey Ford Fusion. Carlos Augusto, the driver of his vehicle, was struck by bullets and died at the scene, while Zárate Lomas was rushed to a local hospital with an injury to his neck. Local press also mentioned that Carlos Augusto's daughter was injured at the scene.

4 September: Isaac Ortega Nieto killed while driving

Two days later on September 4th, Isaac Ortega Nieto, who was to become the Secretary of the city hall, was killed in an ambush outside Comonfort. Assailants shot at him while driving in his Grey Nissan March on the Comonfort-Jalpilla highway, near the town of La Presita. He was travelling with his pregnant wife and two others. The others sustained injuries, but survived.

A lawyer by trade, Isaac Ortega Nieto previously also served as a community representative for Comonfort during the 2015-2018 administration of independent mayor Alberto Méndez.

September 11: Tomás Mata Díaz shot dead while opening his business

The most recent attack occurred on September 11, when gunmen slew Tomás Mata Díaz, who was slated to become the municipalities Director of Tourism. Witnesses reported that unknown assailants shot and killed Mata Díaz around 8:00 a.m. when he arrived to open his dairy business in the town of Empalme Escobedo, about four miles south of Comonfort. This attack occurred just three blocks away from a previous attack on the mayor-elects son.

The killers escaped on a motorbike.

Photo of Tomás Mata Díaz. Source: El Universal

Gilberto Zarate Nieves, the Morena candidate, won the recent mayoral election in early June with 44% of the vote. He will assume the role of Mayor on October 10. These attacks are an effort to intimidate him from taking the position.

Claudio Santoyo Cabello, the current PAN mayor of Comonfort, who lost the June 2024 election by 10 points, denounced the attacks and appealed to the state Attorney Generals Office to investigate the spate of attacks.

CSRL control of Comonfort

Most news reports, government intelligence, and security analysts concur that Comonfort, along with several other nearby regions, are dominated by the CSRL.

Further evidence of this can be found in the CSRL response to the capture of “El Muñeco”, a high ranking CSRL figure and brother in law of El Marro in January 2023. CSRL operatives responded by burning businesses and causing disruption in several municipalites of Guanajuato. Comonfort and the nearby town of Empalme Escobedo were especially hit hard, with gunmen shooting up the mayors offices of both communities.

Sources: El Sol del Bajio, Celaya News, El Universal, AlcaldesdeMexico, El Sol del Bajio, El Sol del Bajio, Periodico Correo, El Sol del Bajio, El Sol del Bajio, ACLED, Data Civica, La Silla Rota, Proceso, Financiero