Uruapan Mayor Grecia Quiroz led a “justice and peace” march in Uruapan on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of her partner, Mayor Carlos Manzo.

Manzo, an outspoken, tough-on-crime mayor, was killed on Nov. 1, 2025, during a Day of the Dead event in Uruapan’s main square. The person who shot Manzo was a 17-year-old boy who was killed by a municipal police officer after he was detained.

More than 30 people — including seven of Manzo’s bodyguards — have been arrested in connection with the assassination, which was allegedly masterminded by Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala (aka “R1”), alleged leader of a criminal cell affiliated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

On Sunday, around 2,500 people accompanied Quiroz — who had two children with Manzo — during the “March for Justice and Peace.”

The march set off from the Monument to General Lázaro Cárdenas in Uruapan, the second largest city in the state of Michoacán, and concluded at Plaza Morelos, the square where Manzo was assassinated. A statue of the murdered mayor was unveiled in the square at the end of Sunday’s march.

Quiroz, who succeeded her partner as mayor just days after he was murdered, wore a T-shirt featuring Manzo’s image during Sunday’s march. Some marchers wore sombreros like those the slain mayor used to wear.

Quiroz called on President Claudia Sheinbaum to ensure that an “exhaustive” and “independent” investigation into Manzo’s assassination takes place. The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office is conducting the now one-year-old probe.

“I call for an exhaustive, independent, and transparent investigation, free from any constraints imposed by political or personal interests; I call for everyone — absolutely everyone — to be investigated, and if the evidence points to individuals with political, economic or any other kind of power, the investigation must not be halted,” Quiroz said.

“I don’t want revenge. I’m not asking for anyone to be convicted without evidence. I’m asking for something that should be standard practice in any country governed by the rule of law: that the authorities investigate this matter thoroughly and that those found responsible be brought to justice,” she said.

“… Arresting someone does not necessarily mean that a crime has been solved, because an investigative file alone does not mean that a family has found justice,” Quiroz said.

Julia Lila, an aunt of Manzo, told reporters in Uruapan that the purpose of Sunday’s march was not just to honor the memory of her nephew and call for justice for his murder, but also to speak out on behalf of other victims of homicides and abductions.

Zayda Zuloaga, a resident of Uruapan who took part in the march, told the news outlet Expansión that she was confident that Mexico would one day have a government like that led by President Nayib Bukele in El Salvador. Manzo was nicknamed “The Mexican Bukele” because of his hardline stance against organized crime.

“I believe that God has a Bukele for Mexico,” Zuloaga said.

“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we declare that Grecia [Quiroz] is our Bukele. God will open the way so the entire nation changes, so that we, through Grecia, can have a government like that of Bukele,” she said.

Quiroz could run as a candidate for governor in next year’s state election in Michoacán, but she told the newspaper El Universal in a recent interview that she hasn’t yet decided if she will.

The federal government responded to the assassination of Manzo and general insecurity in Michoacán with “Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice,” a 57-billion-peso (US $3.1 billion) initiative that has been credited with driving a significant decrease in homicides in the state this year.

Quiroz: ‘We can’t normalize violence’

In addition to marching through the streets of Uruapan, Quiroz marked the first anniversary of the assassination of her partner with a social media post titled, “The saddest first year of my life.”

EL PRIMER AÑO MÁS TRISTE DE MI VIDA 💔

“La última foto tuya Carlos con nuestro pequeño Plutarco como tú lo llamabas, recuerdo ese día y me duele hasta las entrañas, tu solo querías un mejor futuro para nuestros hijos y para todas las familias de México.

Un año donde tu ausencia en casa se siente todos los días, en donde todos los días sigo esperando que entres por esa puerta como lo hacías gritando por toda la casa para que los niños te escucharan, un año dónde sigue habiendo una silla vacía a la hora de comer, un año en donde los recuerdos irrumpen en todos lados porque todo me recuerda a ti, extraño nuestras pláticas, extraño tus abrazos, tus besos, tu voz, extraño verte caminar por el centro con nuestros hijos, puedo decir que es lo más doloroso que he tenido que enfrentar en toda mi vida.

Ese 1 de noviembre del 2025 quedaste en la historia de México Carlos Manzo, fuiste un hombre valiente, fuerte y entregado a tu gente, fuiste el mejor presidente que Uruapan haya tenido y estoy segura ibas a ser el mejor presidente de México.

No podemos normalizar la violencia, no podemos normalizar que más alcaldes tengan que ser asesinados por querer hacer las cosas bien, no podemos seguir viviendo con miedo a que nuestros hijos sean desaparecidos, ya basta de tanta sangre derramada en nuestro querido Michoacán.

Te seguiré honrando Carlos Manzo y seguiré de pie como muchas veces vi que tú lo hacías en medio de la adversidad solo te pido que nos cuides desde donde estás.

Descansa en paz Amor de mi vida y recuerda: un día nos volveremos a encontrar y esta vez será para siempre 🕊️🤠❤️” GQ

— Grecia Quiroz Michoacán 2027 (@GreciaMich2027) November 1, 2026

Above a photo of Manzo holding their young son in his arms shortly before he was killed, she wrote:

“The last photo of you, Carlos, with our little Plutarco as you called him. I remember that day and it hurts me to my core. You only wanted a better future for our children and for all the families of Mexico.”

Quiroz also wrote that she had felt Manzo’s “absence at home” every day during the past year.

“… Every day I still wait for you to walk through that door like you used to, shouting through the whole house so the kids could hear you. [It was] a year with an empty chair at mealtime, a year in which memories burst in everywhere because everything reminds me of you. I miss our talks, I miss your hugs, your kisses, your voice, I miss seeing you walk through the center [of town] with our children. I can say it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever had to face in my entire life,” she wrote.

“On November 1, 2025, you went down in Mexico’s history, Carlos Manzo. You were a brave, strong man, dedicated to your people. You were the best mayor Uruapan has ever had and I’m sure you were going to be the best president of Mexico,” Quiroz wrote.

“We cannot normalize violence; we cannot normalize more mayors having to be assassinated for wanting to do things right; we cannot keep living in fear that our children will be disappeared. Enough of so much blood spilled in our beloved Michoacán. I will continue honoring you, Carlos Manzo, and I will keep standing tall like I saw you do so many times in the face of adversity. I only ask that you watch over us from wherever you are. Rest in peace, love of my life and remember: one day we will meet again and this time it will be forever.”

With reports from La Jornada, Eje Central, Expansión and El Financiero