Another candidate assassinated in Mexico ahead of June 6 vote

Alma Barragan was shot dead during a campaign event becoming the 34th murdered candidate this election season.

A mayoral candidate has been killed in Mexico, bringing to 34 the total number of candidates murdered nationwide ahead of June 6 legislative elections that will fill thousands of local seats and nearly half of the country’s governors. Alma Barragan was shot dead on Tuesday, local media reported, while campaigning for the mayorship of the city of Moroleon in the violence-plagued state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. Two other people were reportedly injured. On Wednesday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the killing was “without doubt” the work of organised criminal gangs who were killing candidates to scare voters away from the polls.