Aristoteles Sandoval, former governor of the Mexican state of Jalisco (west), one of the most violent in the country, was killed in the toilets of a restaurant in the city of Puerto Vallarta, the country’s major tourist destination, said the authorities.
“I greatly deplore the assassination of the former governor of Jalisco (…) This case will be the subject of an investigation to determine the motive and punish those responsible,” said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the start of his daily press conference.
The former governor was shot dead “in the back” Thursday evening in the bathroom of a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, on the Pacific coast, west of Guadalajara, where he was on vacation with his family, said the Jalisco prosecutor at a press conference.
Yet, in accordance with legislation to protect officials and former officials, the former governor had 15 bodyguards and armored vehicles, Ricardo Sanchez, coordinator of the Jalisco security cabinet, said at the same conference.
Nearly 30,000 homicides
Aristoteles Sandoval, 46, was governor of Jalisco from 2013 to 2018, a state plagued by violence from organized crime.
Jalisco, where a large number of mass graves have been found, is the stronghold of the powerful, new generation Jalisco cartel, which is engaged in internal conflicts with rival organizations.
Between January and October, 29,182 homicides were recorded in the country, up from 28,855 for the same period in 2019, according to the government, which attributes most of these acts to organized crime.
Israel said that Arianespace was now considering “a launch towards the end of March”.
The November Vega mission led to the loss of a Spanish high-resolution optical imaging satellite, SEOSAT-Ingenio, and Taranis, the first scientific satellite designed to observe the hidden face of thunderstorms.