Victor accused in preelection slaying

MEXICO CITY — The mayor-elect of a small town in Mexico has been arrested on accusations of masterminding the killing of the candidate he replaced in the June 6 elections, prosecutors said Thursday.

Omar Ramirez Fuentes won the election in the town of Cazones because of the popularity of Rene Tovar, who was shot to death two days before the vote. Ramirez Fuentes had been Tovar’s campaign manager.

Prosecutors in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz said Thursday that Ramirez Fuentes had his boss killed so he could take over as mayor.

There has been some evidence that drug cartels may have been behind many of the killings of three dozen candidates in the run-up to the June 6 elections for mayorships, governors and Congress.

Most of the victims were running for local posts, and experts said the cartels want to co-opt police and government to make it easier to operate kidnapping, drug and extortion schemes.

But the killing in Cazones, a town of about 24,000 near the Gulf shore, suggests that motives in the killings may have been varied.

Tovar and Ramirez Fuentes were running on the ticket of the small Citizen’s Movement party. Another suspect has been detained who authorities say may have been the triggerman in the hit.