Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Mayor’s personal secretary and advisor murdered in Mexico City

The personal secretary of Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada and a government advisor were shot dead on a busy avenue in the capital on Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The Mexico City government said in a statement that Ximena Guzmán, Brugada’s personal secretary, and José Muñoz, an advisor, were killed at the intersection of Calzada de Tlalpan and Napoleón Street in the neighborhood of Moderna, located in the Benito Juárez borough.

The attack occurred near the Xola Metro station before 8 a.m., the Reforma newspaper reported. Both victims reportedly died at the scene of the crime.

Brugada, mayor since last October, expressed her “deep sadness” about the murders in a social media post in which she shared her government’s statement.

The statement said that the aggressors were on a motorbike when they opened fire on the vehicle in which Guzmán and Muñoz were traveling.

The Mexico City government said that the local Security Ministry and Attorney General’s Office, “with support from the government of Mexico,” are carrying out investigations “to determine the motive of the attack.”

“In addition, an analysis of [footage from] video surveillance cameras in the area is being carried out to identify the probable culprits, who it is known were traveling on a motorcycle,” the government said.

“There won’t be impunity. The culprits will be arrested and they must face justice. From the Mexico City government we send our condolences to the relatives and loved ones [of the victims], and all necessary support will be provided,” the statement concluded.

President Claudia Sheinbaum read out the Mexico City government statement at her morning press conference and pledged that justice will be served.

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this situation,” she said, adding that the federal government will provide “unconditional support” for Brugada.

Sheinbaum also said that the two victims had collaborated with the ruling Morena party for an extended period.

“Our solidarity and support to the families of these two people, who had been working in our movement for a long time. We know them. Our solidarity with their families and with Clara,” she said.

While Sheinbaum was mayor of Mexico City, her then security minister Omar García Harfuch — now the federal security minister — was targeted in an armed attack in the capital that was attributed to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

García Harfuch was wounded in the 2020 attack, while three other people were killed.

This is a developing story.

With reports from Reforma and Milenio

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