ACAPULCO: A second mayor was killed in southern Mexico this weekend along with his driver while they were driving on a road in Guerrero state, authorities said Sunday.
Ambrosio Soto, the mayor of Pungabarato, and his chauffeur were "ambushed by unknown individuals" on a road near the village at around midnight Saturday, a municipal official said on condition of anonymity.
The murder was confirmed by Soto's leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), which said in a statement that the mayor had "desperately" and unsuccessfully asked for state and federal government support after receiving threats.
Soto had said that he received threats from an organized crime group after taking steps to combat extortion and drug trafficking.
Earlier on Saturday, the mayor of San Juan Chamula, in southern Chiapas state, was gunned down along with two elected municipal officials and two other people during a protest.
The motive for that killing is unclear. The protesters were demanding that the municipality pay for arts programs in cash and conduct public works projects.
Several mayors have been murdered in Mexico in recent years amid a bloody drug war that has cost tens of thousands of lives in the past decade.
In January, the mayor of Temixco in central Mexico was shot dead in front of her family less than 24 hours after she took office.
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