Politician shot and killed while dining at restaurant in Mexico

A local Mexican politician was shot and killed on Monday while dining at a restaurant in western Mexico’s troubled Jalisco state, authorities said.

Jose Luis Pereira, a senior member of the Teocaltiche city government, was attacked at around 5:00 pm at a seafood restaurant, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

“Police officers responded to the scene after receiving a report of a person injured by a firearm,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “Upon arrival, along with medical personnel, officers confirmed that the victim no longer had vital signs.”

The city and its surrounding region have seen bouts of violence in recent months. Just days ago, a mother searching for missing relatives was murdered along with her son in Jalisco.

The state’s municipal police chief was murdered on April 15.

In March, a lawyer who ran a local news Facebook page was killed in neighboring Guanajuato state in what state prosecutors called a crime “against freedom of expression.”

Local media also reported in February that the remains of four Teocaltiche police officers were found in plastic bags along the side of a road, after eight officers disappeared along with a driver taking them to nearby Guadalajara.

After the kidnappings, the state government took control of the Teocaltiche police, accusing local law enforcement of being infiltrated by gangs.

Western Mexico is home to the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which was designated a terrorist organization by U.S. President Donald Trump in February.

Violence linked to drug trafficking groups has skyrocketed in Mexico in recent decades, with around 480,000 people murdered in the past 19 years.

More than 124,000 people have been officially registered as missing in Mexico, and Jalisco leads the national statistics with more than 15,000 cases.

Politicians targeted with violence in Mexico

Mexico’s drug cartels have often focused assassination attempts on politicians and mayoral candidates, in a bid to control local police or extort money from municipal governments.

In December 2024, a Mexican congressman who was a member of the ruling coalition was shot dead in Veracruz state.

About two months before that, a mayor was murdered and decapitated in the southern state of Guerrero. The next month, a former prosecutor and local police official was arrested in connection with the grisly killing.

In June 2024, a mayor was killed in southern Mexico, less than a week after another politician was assassinated in the same region plagued by cartel violence.

That same month, a local councilwoman was gunned down as she was leaving her home in Guerrero. Her murder came a few days after the mayor of a town in western Mexico and her bodyguard were killed outside of a gym, just hours after Sheinbaum won the presidency.

In March 2024, a mayor was shot dead while at a restaurant with his 14-year-old son in Morelia, the capital of western Michoacan state. His son survived.