Two politicians have been assassinated over the weekend in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which borders the United States, bringing to five the number of politicians killed in the week as the July 1 election approaches.
The body of Eduardo Aragon, leader of the conservative Encuento Social party, who has been missing since Friday, was found tied to the trunk of his bullet-riddled car on a Chihuahua street on Sunday morning, according to the Mexican police.
Hours later, police received an anonymous phone call that gunmen had opened fire on homes and shops in the small town of Ignacio Zaragoza in the same state.
Security forces found three bodies in the wreckage of six burning houses and shops. The body of Liliana Garcia, the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) candidate for mayor of the city, was found in a nearby stream.
Among the houses set on fire were two PRD officials, police said.
In the afternoon, the bodies of four people, including a woman, were found by police in a charred car in the Gomes Farias area, always in the state of Chihuahua.
Political violence is escalating in Mexico as the July 1 elections approach, during which the country's president will be elected, the two houses of parliament will be renewed and various local elections will be held.
On Friday, police found the body of 39-year-old Adiel German Miguel, a candidate for the Encuentro Social in Tenango del Ire, Mexico, and the body of Alejandro Gonzalez Ramas, the Conservative mayor of Pacific while driving his car.
Last Sunday, the mayor of Jalisco in western Mexico, Chilotlan de los Dolores, who was running for re-election with the Citizens' Movement party, was shot dead.