The daughter of a federal deputy from Mexico’s left-wing political party Morena was shot to death yesterday at the Ciudad Mendoza municipality in the state of Veracruz .
The victim was identified as Valeria Cruz Medel, aged 22 , born in the Coatzacoalcos municipality. She was also the daughter of Carmen Medel Palma , Morena representative of District 14 in Veracruz.
Valeria, who was a student at the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Veracruz , was shot in a gym just a few blocks away from the city hall.
Witnesses claimed that a group of armed men arrived at the gym and shot the student at point-blank.
This was the last case in a series of violent crimes committed against politicians during Mexico’s electoral and government transition periods. According to the consulting firm Etellekt , which specializes on risk assessment, a total of 34 politicians have been killed in the past four months , as well as 19 of their close relatives .
Most of these crimes have been committed in the states of Veracruz and Puebla , which presented five cases each, followed by Guerrero and Oaxaca (four cases each), and Michoacán , with three cases.
Regarding the assassination of family members, there were four cases in Puebla, four more in Nayarit, three in Morelos, two in Veracruz, and two in Tamaulipas.
In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL , Rubén Salazar Vázquez, Etellekt director , claimed that most of these murders were committed for political reasons. This type of crime is not rare during government transitions in Mexico. Upcoming administrations usually report acts of corruption committed by members of the outgoing administration, which in turn retaliates with threats and violence.
The director also pointed out that most victims are part of the opposition to the government in office , accounting for 70% of cases out of a total of 256 murders against politicians and their family members that were registered since the electoral process began on September 2017 .
Vázquez added that impunity was a constant in the persecution of political assassinations in the country. As an example, he pointed out that, out of 48 candidates who were killed during said period, only 11 suspects have been arrested . “In many cases, authorities don’t even open an investigation file. There is a high degree of impunity in the country. This encourages violence as a method to defend political interests ,” he stressed.
The specialist pointed out that the murder of Valeria Cruz Medel happened amidst a very important government transition in the state of Veracruz, where Morena legislators presented an initiative to speed up investigations against the governor from PAN (National Action Party), Miguel Ángel Yunes , who has been accused of money laundering and illicit enrichment .
dm