The new mayor is vowing to tackle violence in Mexico City, just days after his predecessor was killed and beheaded

A new mayor was sworn in on Thursday in a city in southern Mexico where his predecessor served killed and beheaded less than a week after taking office.

The new mayor, Gustavo Alarcón, a doctor, was elected as deputy in the June election on the same ticket as the late mayor Alejandro Arcos.

Arcos took office on October 1 in the violence-torn city of Chilpancingo, capital of the southern state of Guerrero. His decapitated body was found in a pickup truck on Sunday; His head had been placed on the roof of the vehicle. Two rival drug gangs fight for control of the city.

Alarcón took the oath of office on Thursday under minimal security from a handful of police officers. He promised to “work for the good of all” and combat the violence that has gripped Chilpancingo for years.

Before he was killed, Arcos had told local media that he needed more protection, but officials said no official request had been received. State and federal governments can offer mayors bulletproof vehicles, additional bodyguards and emergency warning systems. It was not clear whether Alarcón was granted this protection.

According to Alejandro Moreno, president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Arcos' assassination came a few days after the assassination of another city official, Francisco Tapia.

“You were in office for less than a week. Young and honest officials who sought progress for their community,” Moreno said on X.

Chilpancingo, a city of about 300,000 people, is dominated by two warring drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. One in 2023 staged a demonstration with hundreds of people, hijacked a government armored car, blocked a major road and took police officers hostage to secure the release of arrested suspects.

Earlier this week, Federal Public Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said four mayors from other cities in Mexico had done so asked for protection on Monday, a day after Arcos' remains were found. The requests came from Guerrero and another violence-plagued state, Guanajuato.

“The war on drugs will not return”

The situation in Guanajuato is so dire that at least four mayoral candidates were killed ahead of the country's June elections.

In June, Acacia Floreswho represents Malinaltepec, was killed just days after Assassination of Salvador Villalba Floresanother mayor from the state of Guerrero, elected in the June 2 elections. A local earlier this month City councilor was shot as she left her home in Guerrero.

Her murder came a few days after the mayor of a city in western Mexico and her bodyguard were present killed outside a gymjust a few hours later Claudia Sheinbaum won the presidency.

But the violence in Guerrero reached such unprecedented levels that Roman Catholic bishops announced earlier this year that they had helped bring about a ceasefire between two feuding drug cartels in another part of the state.

At the time, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who refused to confront the gangs, said he supported such talks.

“Priests, pastors and members of all churches took part and contributed to the peace of the country. I think that’s very good,” said López Obrador, who left office on September 30.

Sheinbaum ruled out a new war on drug cartels on Tuesday as she unveiled a national security plan aimed at curbing rampant criminal violence.

Sheinbaum, the first woman to lead the Latin American nation, said her administration would prioritize tackling the root causes of crime and making better use of intelligence information.

“The war on drugs will not return,” the leftist president said at a news conference, referring to a military offensive launched in 2006 that was backed by the United States.

AFP contributed to this report.