Grecia Quiroz took over as substitute municipal president of Uruapan, Michoacán, after her husband Carlos Manzo was murdered on Saturday.
In the midst of a session marked by emotion and moments of tension, Grecia Quiroz protested this Wednesday before the plenary session of the state Congress and declared that her late husband’s legacy will continue:
“For our state of Michoacán, for our Mexico, today this Carlos Manzo legacy is stronger than ever, this legacy, this Hat Movement they did not silence him and they will not silence him because here I remain firm, with the firm conviction that he taught me.”
“How unfortunate that this happened so that they turned to see Uruapan, that they had to take the life of Carlos Manzo so that now they do want to send security, so that now they do want to shield us. How sad, because he shouted it, asked for help, over and over again,” he emphasized.
A hooded gunman shot and killed Manzo, 40, while he attended a candle festival in an attack that sparked national outrage, in part because of his outspoken criticism of the federal government for not doing more to combat organized crime.
Moments before the shooting, Manzo had given a speech in the city of 350,000 and was carrying his young son, dressed as a skeleton.
Read: The murder of Carlos Manzo and the security crisis
“They took the father of my children from me, but they were wrong, this is not over,” Quiroz said at Manzo’s funeral on Monday.
He vowed to continue Manzo’s fight against the powerful drug cartels that have gained a foothold in the lucrative avocado and lime business.
Carlos Bautista, leader of the Independent Hat Movement, to which Manzo belonged, told Reuters that the new mayor will have the protection of at least 14 security agents.
“This is something that should never happen again,” Bautista said of Manzo’s murder, adding that some of Manzo’s political allies have also received death threats.
The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the alleged death threats.
In Michoacán, discontent is growing over the violence that plagues the region, where lemon and avocado producers have been denouncing extortion, kidnappings and murders linked to cartel violence for years. Bernardo Bravo, leader of the local avocado sector, was murdered in October.
Manzo’s murder sparked a wave of violence in Michoacán, including protests by residents demanding justice.
In Morelia, the state capital, protesters vandalized government buildings for two consecutive days.
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Authorities have arrested two people in connection with Manzo’s murder and have vowed to continue the investigation.
Sheinbaum stated that he also met personally with Quiroz and Manzo’s brother.
“They are absolutely right to demand justice and for this investigation to be carried out to the end,” Sheinbaum said.
With information from Reuters
