Mexican candidate shot dead on campaign trail
Ferocious war between gangs of drug dealers who terrorize Mexico began to make political victims.Rodolfo Torre Cantu, who was running for governor in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, was shot along with four of his supporters.
Torre Rodolfo Cantu was on Monday in a car and was part of a convoy en route to a campaign event counting for the elections that will take place Sunday in the Mexican state Tamaulipas. Never reached its destination because the route the convoy was attacked by armed individuals, and Cantu was killed by bullets. Immediately after killing, the suspicions turned to gangs of drug smugglers from the State of Tamaulipas in northern Mexico near the Texas American. Tamaulipas is the scene of territory fighting for drug lords. The politician was credited with the first chance to become the new governor, position that propelled him in particular promises that he will increase security in this turbulent region.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon denounced the murder of Cantu as a “cowardly assassination” and blamed organized crime for the attack. Election campaigns for local elections this time are dragged by violent incidents, especially in the State of Chihuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is the capital of global crime. Another campaign-related violent incident happened in early June in Sinaloa, where the two party offices were attacked. However, Cantu’s death is the first political assassination in Mexico in the last 16 years. In 1994, Luis Donaldo Colosio presidential candidate was killed during an election rally in Tijuana.
Since late 2006, when Felipe Calderon declared war on organized crime, and so far 23,000 people have died.11
