Abducted Mexican mayor found murdered

The bound and blindfolded body of the kidnapped mayor of Santiago in Mexico has been found dumped on a remote rural road.

The country’s President Felipe Calderon has condemned what he called the “cowardly assassination”.

Thirty-eight-year-old American-educated Edelmiro Cavazos was taken from his home by up to 15 gunmen last Sunday night after he returned from attending a public function in the town’s main square.

Security forces believe Cavazos was targeted because of his efforts to tackle corruption in the Santiago police force.

The abduction followed a weekend of violence in the nearby city of Monterrey when gangs blockaded 13 major road links and a bomb was detonated outside the studios of Mexico’s biggest television network.

The northern state of Nuevo Leon has seen a sharp increase in violent crime since one of the country’s most notorious drug gangs, Los Zetas, became locked in a turf war with a rival cartel.

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