Hours After Mexico Broke Glass Ceiling, Female Mayor Killed

Mere hours after Mexico broke the glass ceiling in its highest office with the election of Claudia Sheinbaum to the presidency, gunmen mowed down a female mayor in the state of Michoacan. As the BBC reports, Yolanda Sanchez was the first woman elected to the post in the city of Cotija, a job she'd held since 2021. Sanchez was ambushed on a public road on Monday, and shot 19 times; she died in the hospital shortly after. One of her security guards was also killed. There are no suspects in custody. CBS News notes that Sanchez had previously been abducted in September while shopping; she was found alive three days later.

It's been a season of violence during this year's election, reports the AP, especially targeting women. A Wednesday campaign rally in Sanchez's Cotija turned violent: "It seemed like a normal evening, like the campaign closers of other candidates," says one attendee. "Then there were gunshots, several rounds of gunfire very close. And then people started running and diving to the ground, crouching." A female mayoral candidate in the city of Celaya, Guanajuato, was killed at a rally in April. US News takes a look at what Sheinbaum's presidency could mean for a feminist agenda. (More Mexico stories.)