Aristotle Sandoval, former governor of the state of Jalisco in Mexico, died in an attack on the tourist spot of Puerto Vallarta, the latest sign of worsening insecurity shaking Latin America’s second largest economy.
The assassination was confirmed in a tweet by the current governor of the state, Enrique Alfaro, in the early hours of Friday. The attack came after the politician went to dinner with three other people the night before, local authorities reported.
Although the cause of the attack is unknown, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sandoval’s death would be investigated and his administration would work closely with Jalisco, Mexico’s fourth most populous state, to bring the culprits to justice.
“This is an issue that will be investigated so that the cause, the reason and those responsible are known,” López Obrador said at a press conference on Friday. “Is it like that Until the Jalisco authorities to carry out the investigation, but we are ready to help at all times ”.
Increased insecurity
The murder adds up to nearly 32,000 homicides this year, the highest recorded during any period from January to November, according to government data.
“Sandoval’s assassination is one of several attacks and assassinations of Mexican government officials in recent years,” said Mareen Meyer, Mexico’s director at the Washington Office in Latin America, a think tank. “This growing violence and insecurity speaks to the Mexican government’s continuing challenge to effectively combat organized criminal organizations that continue to expand their influence in the country.”
In a video, local authorities said Sandoval had been in Puerto Vallarta, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, since Dec. 5 to spend a family vacation and do business. He arrived at a restaurant around 10pm on Thursday and was shot after going to use the toilet a few hours later.
Sandoval was shot in the back while in the bathroom and his security team dragged him outside where they were ambushed, Jalisco Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solis said in a radio interview to the Mexican journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva. One of Sandoval’s bodyguards is in critical condition at the hospital.
In the interview, the attorney general said the restaurant staff had “completely manipulated the scene of the events,” erasing blood tests and fingerprints.
Sandoval, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, resigned as governor two years ago and was guarded by a team of 15 people, authorities said. At the time of the attack, only two of the guards were waiting for him outside the restaurant. In the state is the cartel of the new generation of Jalisco, one of the most violent criminal groups in Mexico. In May 2018, under Sandoval’s tenure, the woman at the head of the cartel was captured in the state.
“Throughout the year, the federal government has been pressuring this particular cartel and has disproportionately detained members of this cartel,” said Arantza Alonso, a senior public safety analyst at the political risk consultancy EMPRA-AIS of the Mexico City. “They feel the pressure.”
Alonso added that before next year’s midterm elections, Mexico may begin to see more high-profile political attacks, an important test for López Obrador’s administration. Last month, a construction contractor was abducted in Puerto Vallarta by an armed group. His body was dumped days later on a road in neighboring Nayarit state.
As governor, Sandoval made a name for himself as one of the party’s bright new faces and established the state capital Guadalajara as the Mexican Silicon Valley.
(Updates with additional details of the incident throughout.)