Aristotle Sandoval, the former governor of the Mexican state of Jalisco, was killed in an attack in the tourist hotspot of Puerto Vallarta, the latest sign of mounting insecurity that shook Latin America’s second-largest economy.
The murder was confirmed in a tweet from current state governor Enrique Alfaro in the early hours of Friday. The attack took place after the politician had dinner with three other people the night before, local authorities said.
Although the cause of the attack is unknown, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sandoval’s death will be investigated and his government will work closely with Jalisco, Mexico’s fourth most populous state, to bring the guilty parties to justice.
“This is a case that will be investigated so that the cause, motive is known and those responsible are punished,” Lopez Obrador said at a news conference on Friday. “Her until the Jalisco authorities to conduct the investigation, but we are always ready to help. “
Growing uncertainty
The homicide rate contributed to nearly 32,000 murders this year, the highest number recorded for a period from January to November, according to government data.
“The Sandoval assassination is one of several attacks and murders on Mexican government officials in recent years,” said Mareen Meyer, Mexico’s director at the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank. “This growing violence and insecurity reflect 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 December 5 for a family vacation and business. He arrived at a restaurant around 10 p.m. on Thursday and was shot after going to the toilet a few hours later.
Sandoval was shot in the back while in the toilet, and his security team dragged him outside where they were greeted with an ambush, Jalisco Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solis said in a radio interview with Mexican journalist Ciro Gomez Leyva. One of Sandoval’s bodyguards is in a critical condition in the hospital.
In the interview, the attorney general said that restaurant staff “completely manipulated the scene of the events” by wiping blood and fingerprints.
Sandoval, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, left his post as governor two years ago and was guarded by a team of 15, authorities said. At the time of the attack, only two of the guards were waiting for him outside the restaurant. The state is home to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico’s most violent criminal groups. In May 2018, the wife of the head of the cartel was arrested in the state during Sandoval’s tenure.
“Throughout the year, the federal government is putting pressure on this particular cartel, and they have disproportionately arrested members of this cartel,” said Arantza Alonso, a senior public security analyst with political risk consultancy EMPRA-AIS in Mexico City. “They feel the pressure.”
Alonso added that in the run-up to next year’s midterm elections, Mexico may begin to see more high-profile political attacks, a major test for Lopez Obrador’s government. Last month in Puerto Vallarta, a construction businessman was kidnapped by an armed group. His body was dumped on a road in the neighboring state of Nayarit days later.
As governor, Sandoval made a name for himself as one of the bright new faces of the party, pitching the capital Guadalajara as Mexico’s Silicon Valley.
(Updates with additional details of the incident throughout.)