The Curse of Municipal Presidencies in Mexico
Chilpancingo, Mexico is plagued by violence and corruption due to the struggle for control over Ramo 33, a federal fund. Organized crime groups extort local officials and businesses to gain control of the funds, leading to numerous killings and disappearances.
In most instances, Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero, would remain a relatively quiet, overlooked dot on Mexico's map. Representing just 3.5% of the state's territory and housing only eight out of every thousand Guerrero residents, the city lacks any significant tourist allure or strategic importance for migration routes. Yet, this seemingly peripheral municipality has found itself at the heart of a brutal struggle involving drug cartels and organized crime. The mystery: Why do cartels vie for control over this impoverished, small, and economically insignificant city?
This haunting question resurfaced with grim urgency on October 6, when the severed head of Mayor Alejandro Arcos was discovered atop a pickup truck, just six days into his term. It was the latest in a series of killings that have sent shockwaves through the region. Seventy-two hours earlier, Francisco Tapia, the city's general secretary, had been gunned down. Before that, Ulises Hernández, slated to be the city's next municipal security chief, was shot dead.
