Bloody election campaign in Mexico: mayoral candidate shot dead Australia: seven-year-old finds 9,000 franc gemstone on his own doorstep

In Mexico, deadly attacks on politicians are increasing in the run-up to the June 2 elections, with a mayoral candidate now shot dead in the street. The attack in the central city of Celaya also injured three people, the office of the attorney general of Guanajuato state said Tuesday evening. More than a dozen political candidates have already been murdered in the run-up to the presidential, parliamentary and regional elections in the Latin American country.

Candidate Gisela Gaytán was walking with her team in a suburb of the city when the shots were fired, local media reported. The background initially remained unclear. Gaytán ran for mayor of Celaya, a city of 520,000 inhabitants, for the left-wing Morena party, of which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is also a member. She had only started her election campaign on Sunday and assured that she wanted to improve the security situation in the city.

Guanajuato is a major industrial location that was considered relatively safe until a few years ago. However, due to the violence of the drug cartels, the state now ranks first in Mexico in terms of murder rates. Criminal groups vying for influence in certain regions, as well as political opponents seeking to eliminate competitors, are often suspected behind attacks on politicians in Mexico. (rbu/sda/dpa)