MORELIA, Michoacan — Mexican authorities rescued a mayoral candidate from a rural municipality in Michoacan. Gunmen recently kidnapped the victim.
The kidnapping victim is the wife of a former mayor of the same town. That man is currently in prison for his involvement in the murder and incineration of 10 local students.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the gunmen kidnapped Maria De Lourdes “Lulu” Torres Diaz in downtown Alvaro Obregon and managed to evade authorities despite a series of initial searches. Just one day after the kidnapping, Michoacan Governor Silvano Aureoles Conejo took to Twitter and announced that his state’s anti-kidnapping unit had rescued the candidate.
According to the Michoacan governor, the gunmen fought with authorities in a gun battle where police killed one of the kidnappers during the rescue operation. The politician stated that the investigation continues.
De Lourdes is the mayoral candidate for the town of Alvaro Obregon for the leftist party MORENA and the Worker’s Party (Partido del Trabajo) for the upcoming elections in July. While a motive of the kidnapping remains unclear, De Lourdes is the wife of Juan Carlos Arreygue Nuñez, the former mayor of Alvaro Obregon. He has been jailed since July 2016 for his role in the kidnapping, murder, and incineration of 10 local students.
Information leaked to Breitbart Texas by Mexican law enforcement sources revealed that Arreygue Nuñez owns a ranch called “Santa Fe” that, in 2008, was used by rival cartels to hold a summit where a truce of sorts was unsuccessfully discussed. The summit aimed to end the raging violence throughout Mexico that continues to this day.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo León and other areas to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Jose Luis Lara, a former leading member who helped start the Self-Defense Movement in Michoacán.