Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz were not only the Mayor’s Private Secretary and Advisor, but also members of her inner circle, intermediaries, and those in charge of various government matters during her administration in the Iztapalapa mayor’s office.
They were trained and seasoned during Clara Brugada’s administrations. They were the ones with whom she interacted most frequently for the past 7-9 years, and with whom she worked fighting criminal gangs in various areas of Mexico City. There is now speculation that this could have led to their deaths.
This was a blow to the Mayor’s heart, clearly not a random choice, but rather a well-planned one. A professional hitman, quick and effective with his shots (8 shots for Ximena and 4 for José), with military skill, without hesitation or mistakes, and with knowledge of the location of cameras and C5 monitoring.
They hired a professional team with military training who dedicated time to planning, locating their victims’ routes, and also had information and perhaps support from the C5 (National Intelligence Unit) to immobilize city cameras.
A team of hitmen with the skills and resources to pose as construction workers weeks in advance, and at the right moment, they fired 12 shots without hesitation from a modified Glock pistol with a silencer and the serial number filed off. They then carried out a surgically timed escape, with three vehicle changes and drivers who managed to slip away in the State of Mexico far from the capital’s video surveillance.
Authorities have indicated that no fingerprints or DNA were found on the vehicles due to the use of gloves, confirming that it was a professional job, fueled by significant resources and inside information.
What is the reason why two high-level and closely related officials were eliminated?
A frequently repeated hypothesis is that only one organized crime cell has the resources and the audacity to pull off such a thing. Not only because of the level of preparation and quality of execution, but also because of the profile of the victims, it sends a very harsh message to the hearts of the women who govern the city and the country. This hypothesis is reinforced by the response of federal and capital authorities, who emphasize that they will not stop fighting crime and list the arrests of criminal gang leaders in Mexico City in recent months, assuming that the homicides are a response to the new security strategy of shooting, not hugging, which has upset criminal bosses.
According to this narrative, the deaths of the officials, at the time and day of the morning security conference and one week before the judicial election, is a message from one of the most heavily armed cartels (or several) that have been seriously affected, expressing their grievance. This demonstrates that even those closest to power are vulnerable and at risk, and it disrupts the vision and form of government that characterizes the 4T.
Other hypotheses speak of sensitive issues raised by officials, expropriations spearheaded by Ximena, or messages from the Mayor that José communicated to various security sectors, even actions taken during her administration in Iztapalapa against the crime that had taken root in that territory, after which local criminals took revenge.
In any case, this is a message that shows the fragility of life in a society that has normalized crime, where not even those closest to power are safe. It is a sign of terror, intended to generate fear and unleash a violent response from the Mexican State, surely calculated as coldly as the homicide.
A fragility and vulnerability we are navigating in part due to a long history of government collusion with organized crime, which clearly worries President Sheinbaum. In the letter she sent to the Morena leadership on May 4, she stated that “there should be no collusion with criminals,” revealing information she has on governors and municipal presidents.
Organized crime has a military force, legitimacy, and social roots that dare to challenge the government and seem unhappy with the new arrangement established by the current government. An arrangement that they will attempt to renegotiate after the election of the judiciary, and the authorities will have to act. It would be naive to think that the President is unaware of this criminal tectonic shift.