The personal secretary and adviser to Mexico City’s mayor are shot dead

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The personal secretary and an adviser to Mexico City’s mayor were shot dead Tuesday, authorities said, in the worst attack against public officials in the capital in recent years.

Mayor Clara Brugada — who holds the second most powerful political post in the country to President Claudia Sheinbaum — said in a statement that her secretary Ximena Guzmán and adviser José Muñoz were killed in the Moderna neighborhood. The motive was under investigation.

Later, in a brief statement to the press, a visibly upset Brugada said she had worked with both for years. She vowed that her administration “will continue its relentless fight against insecurity.”

The attack happened at around 7 a.m. when Muñoz and Guzmán were in an Audi on a busy Mexico City thoroughfare. There were four bullet holes clustered on the driver’s side of the windshield. One body lay on the pavement.

Mexico security analyst David Saucedo said the killings had the hallmarks of an organized crime hit and he believes they were intended to put pressure on Brugada’s administration. He questioned why someone as important as Guzmán to Brugada did not have a security detail.

Sheinbaum condemned the killings and said there would not be impunity. She said she was not aware of any threats against Guzmán. Sheinbaum served as Mexico City’s mayor prior to winning the presidency last year. She and Brugada are allies in the Morena party.

Homicides were up slightly in Mexico’s capital during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year.

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