Female politician decapitated by gang in Mexico

A Mexican woman running for mayor in a town in the state of Guerrero has been found decapitated, less than a fortnight after starting her campaign. Photo / Thinkstock

A Mexican woman running for mayor in a town in the state of Guerrero has been found decapitated, less than a fortnight after starting her campaign.

The body of Aide Nava Gonzalez, 42, was discovered on Tuesday night on the outskirts of Ahuacuotzingo - the town she was hoping to represent. She had been decapitated, and a "narcomanta" - a drug-gang message, written on a sheet - was draped over her body.

"This is what will happen to all the ------- politicians who don't want to sign up, ------- turncoats. Yours sincerely, Puro Rojo ZNS."

Los Rojos is one of the drugs cartels that is currently fighting its rivals for control of the state of Guerrero - a valuable stretch of land encompassing the port of Acapulco, and trafficking routes from the coast inland to Mexico City and the north.

Guerrero is currently one of the most dangerous states in Mexico, with 42.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. The average rate among the 34 OECD countries is 10 times lower than that of Guerrero, at 4.1 per 100,000 people.

The town of Ahuacuotzingo is less than 100 miles, as the crow flies, from Iguala, the town where 43 students were abducted and presumed murdered in September, prompting a wave of protests.

Ms Nava had only announced her candidacy for the PRD, the opposition party to President Enrique Pena Nieto, on Feb 28.

Her son Francisco Quinonez Nava was kidnapped in October 2012, and a 300,000 peso ransom (pounds 13,000) demanded. He is still missing.

Her husband, Francisco Quinonez Ramirez, had been mayor of the town from 2009-12, and was planning to make a return in 2015. But he was shot dead in June 2014, when he was driving with his wife near the town.