Six members of two families were killed in Mexico’s violent state of Guanajuato, marking at least the third massacre of family members in the country since last month, authorities confirmed Wednesday.
An increasing number of women, children and entire families have fallen victim to the increasingly indiscriminate violence in Guanajuato and other states where drug cartels are fighting bloody turf battles.
The killings in the Guanajuato town of Yuriria claimed six victims – three members of one family and three of another – including an adolescent boy and a woman, state prosecutors said.
Yuriria’s mayor, María De Los Ángeles López, said the victims were working at a construction site when they were shot to death.
Guanajuato’s prosecutor’s office said it is investigating the killings but have not yet detained any suspects.
“It’s a peaceful place,” López said of Yuriria, where “everyone here knows each other and people know those who were killed.”
For years, Guanajuato has had the highest number of homicides of any state in Mexico. The Jalisco cartel is fighting local gangs there for domination of the industrial and farming hub. More police officers in Guanajuato were shot to death in 2023 – about 60 – than in all of the United States.
The U.S. State Department urges American to reconsider traveling to Guanajuato. “Of particular concern is the high number of murders in the southern region of the state associated with cartel-related violence,” the department says in a travel advisory.
Mexican security analyst David Saucedo said that towns in the south of Guanajuato, bordering the state of Michoacan, have constant cartel activity.
“The attack on complete families is with the goal of dispersing rival cartel structures,” he said. “The idea is that they not only retaliate against their rivals but also against their families.”
Last month, a baby and a toddler were among six members of the same family murdered in Guanajuato. Authorities said armed attackers burst into a home in the city of Leon and opened fire at the family.
Later in June, another family of six, including three children, were killed by gunmen in the southern Mexico border state of Chiapas.