Four taxi drivers were murdered in the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco in just 24 hours this week.
Three of the killings occurred on Monday, while the fourth occurred shortly after taxi drivers participated in protests on Tuesday calling on authorities to end violence in Guerrero state’s largest city.
On Monday, gunmen opened fire from a vehicle and killed three taxi drivers at a taxi stand in the Las Cruces neighborhood of Acapulco.
On Tuesday, another taxi driver was shot dead while walking in the Hornos beachfront residential area. He reportedly fell into the El Camarón River after he was shot.
Three other taxi drivers were injured in a separate armed attack on a taxi rank in a rural neighborhood of Acapulco.
Authorities have not arrested or identified the perpetrators of the attack, or speculated about their motive.
🗣️#Acapulco | Taxi drivers on the Las Cruces route blocked both directions of Vicente Guerrero Boulevard to demand justice and safety following the killing of three of their colleagues in an attack at that location.
https://t.co/PIYBhoXqek pic.twitter.com/rxMBBeyAwT— Meganoticias IXT (@MeganoticiasIXT) October 15, 2024
The fourth killing came after a protest on Tuesday against insecurity organized by taxi drivers after three of their colleagues were killed on Monday.
Tuesday’s attack came after taxi drivers blocked the Vicente Guerrero highway to protest insecurity in Acapulco.
According to the newspaper Reforma, the protesters complained that Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado had not met with them and presented a security plan for Acapulco.
“We need more reliable security,” one taxi driver told the Milenio newspaper.
“…We have looked at urban security [transport] van has. … We need that security [as well]he said.
In addition to calling on the state government to do more to combat violence in Acapulco, taxi drivers also urged the army and National Guard to take action against crime groups.
They held up posters saying “We are taxi drivers, we demand security” and “We don’t want any more taxi drivers to be killed.”
Acapulco has been identified as a priority city for the new federal government as it seeks to reduce killings in Mexico’s most violent cities through implementing a new national security system.
Apart from violence, the city was also badly affected by two hurricanes in less than a year. Hurricane Otis devastated Acapulco in late October 2023, while Hurricane John claimed lives and caused major flooding in the city last month.
With reports from Reforma, Milenio, Animal Político and La Jornada
