On Sunday morning, it was reported that Juan Carlos Mezhua Campos, the former mayor and state representative of Zongolica, who was also seeking the governorship of Veracruz, was murdered in the community of Piedras Blancas, located in the central mountainous region of the state.
The attack occurred on the access road to a lime kiln he owned, where armed individuals in two pickup trucks intercepted and opened fire on Mezhua, prompting a mobilization of local residents.
Following the murder, the State Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation and deployed a police operation to locate the assailants, who fled into the Zongolica mountains and have not yet been apprehended. Mezhua, a former state representative and leader of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), had run for governor of Veracruz as an independent candidate in the previous election. He was currently working to establish a new political party, the Independent Party, and maintained an active presence on social media to promote citizen participation in this project.
