Mexican mayoral candidate Alfredo Cabrera assassinated during the campaign rally in Mexico

Mexican mayoral candidate Alfredo Cabrera was fatally shot at a campaign rally, the latest victim in Mexico's deadliest election cycle marred by political violence.

In a sad and gruesome incident that has raised concerns about the safety of politicians in the run-up to the Mexican elections, mayoral candidate Alfredo Cabrera was shot and killed during a campaign rally in the town of Coyuca de Benítez in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

Cabrera, the candidate for the mayor’s post in the Fuerza y Corazón por Mexico coalition party, was greeting the voters during the closing campaign rally and was shot by a gunman. The video footage depicts more than a dozen shots being fired before Cabrera was gunned down. The gunman was shot dead by members of the National Guard who were on duty in the event security.

Cabrera’s assassination is the most recent case of violence against politicians before the Mexican elections scheduled for this Sunday. More than 20 people have been killed since the campaign started in September last year, which is considered the most violent election period in recent Mexican history. Many more have been threatened.

The main opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, who had met with Cabrera and described him as “a generous and honorable man,” called the attack “unprecedented” and expressed her indignation saying “Words cannot describe how I feel. ” Gálvez and the ruling party candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, held their last campaign events on Wednesday as the campaign with violence approaches its end.

The circumstances of the attack on Cabrera are still unclear, although the victim had been previously targeted for assassination in 2015. His murder highlights the severe threats posed to Mexican politicians and regular citizens by criminal organizations and violence.

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The new president who will be elected on Sunday will have to address the challenges of insecurity, crime, an almost stagnant economy, and the irregular migration that has affected Mexico in the last few years. The Mexican citizens will be asked to either support the ruling Morena party of the current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador or vote for the opposition coalition led by Gálvez.