Bullets shattered a Facebook live stream in Texistepec, Mexico, as gunmen mowed down mayoral candidate Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez. The Morena party hopeful was greeting supporters when suspected cartel hitmen unleashed chaos on May 11, 2025.
The New York Post reported that Gutiérrez, her daughter, and two others were killed, with three more wounded, in a brazen attack that underscores Veracruz’s descent into a cartel playground.
This marks the second Morena candidate gunned down in the state in under two weeks, as the June 1 elections loom. Germán Anuar Valencia’s corpse in Coxquihui wasn’t even cold before this latest bloodbath.
The live stream, left up until May 12, captured roughly 20 gunshots, a chilling soundtrack to Mexico’s political carnage.
Veracruz, with its quaint towns like 20,000-strong Texistepec, is no stranger to violence, but broadcasting it live? That’s a new low, even for the cartels.
Veracruz Governor Rocío Nahle García confirmed the additional deaths and injuries on May 12, her voice likely trembling with the weight of a state unraveling. “No position is worth dying for,” she declared, as if stating the obvious could stop the bullets. Newsflash, Governor: Cartels don’t care about your press conferences.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, ever the bureaucrat, offered “coordination” with federal support on May 12, promising to work with Veracruz’s attorney general. Coordination? Tell that to the grieving families who watched their loved ones bleed out on social media.
Sheinbaum’s refusal to name a motive is almost laughable, given Mexico’s well-documented cartel stranglehold. Data Cívica reported 661 attacks on political targets in 2024 alone, from mayors to candidates. Running for office in Mexico comes with a complimentary target on your back.
The Texistepec massacre wasn’t even Veracruz’s only bloodshed that week. On May 12, two federal agents were killed in Boca del Rio, a separate but equally grim reminder of the state’s lawlessness. It’s almost as if the cartels are auditioning for a dystopian blockbuster.
Gutiérrez’s murder follows a gruesome pattern. Less than two weeks earlier, Germán Anuar Valencia was shot dead in Coxquihui, another Morena casualty in Veracruz’s political slaughterhouse. The cartels are sending a message, and it’s written in blood.
Zoom out, and the picture gets uglier. In 2024, a mayoral candidate in Guerrero was killed at a campaign event, while Cotija’s mayor in Michoacán was gunned down while walking home from the gym. Actions have consequences, and in Mexico, daring to serve the public seems to be a death sentence.
Chilpancingo’s mayor, decapitated in October 2024 just days into his term, rounds out this macabre hit list. These aren’t random acts; they’re calculated executions designed to keep Mexico’s political class on a leash. The cartels don’t negotiate—they eliminate.
Gutiérrez’s live stream, now a digital tombstone, stayed online for a full day, a grotesque spectacle for all to see. The fact that it took until May 12 to pull it down speaks volumes about Mexico’s desensitization to violence. Meanwhile, the wounded are left to pick up the pieces, assuming they survive the next ambush.
Sheinbaum’s “we’re coordinating” mantra sounds like a broken record against the backdrop of 661 attacks in a single year. Federal support is a nice gesture, but when candidates are dropping like flies, it’s hard to believe anyone’s in control. The cartels, not the government, seem to be calling the shots.
The June 1 elections are barreling forward, but at what price? With two Morena candidates already dead in Veracruz, the body count is a grim predictor of what’s to come. Democracy shouldn’t require a bulletproof vest, but in Mexico, it does.
From Texistepec to Chilpancingo, the message is clear: Step into the political arena, and you’re stepping into a warzone. The cartels have turned Mexico’s elections into a deadly game of whack-a-mole, and the candidates are the moles. If this is democracy, it’s one hell of a funeral procession.