Widow of Carlos Manzo is inaugurated as mayor

Grecia Quiroz, widow of Mayor Carlos Manzo, murdered last November 1 after a public event, was sworn in on Wednesday as substitute municipal president of the city of Uruapan, in the western Mexican state of Michoacán, and assured that her husband’s legacy of struggle and justice “is stronger than ever”.

The appointment of Quiroz, who will be the mayor of the place during the period 2024-2027, took place during the extraordinary session of the Congress of the state of Michoacán, which in previous days approved the proposal of the deputy of the ‘Movimiento Independiente del Sombrero’, Carlos Bautista, with 38 votes in favor of the 40 deputies that make up the legislature.

Widow of Carlos Manzo is Uruapan’s new municipal president

Grecia Quiroz, mayor of Uruapan, assures that the “Movimiento del Sombrero” is still strong

Grecia Quiroz, widow of Carlos Manzo, expressed that she arrives “with a broken heart” after the murder of her husband, but assured that his legacy “is stronger than ever” and that “the… pic.twitter.com/y9MlqEcjqU

– Azucena Uresti (@azucenau) November 5, 2025

“Today I do not come with an empty speech, as many politicians are used to do. Today I come with a broken heart, because they took away my partner in life, my partner in struggle, the father of my children, but today I also come with this courage that he taught me,” said Quiroz when accepting the appointment.

“I come with this fortitude with which he got up every day to fight, to fight, to raise his voice, to shout, to ask for help for our municipality, for our state of Michoacán, for our Mexico. Today Carlos Manzo’s legacy is stronger than ever,” he added.

She said that despite the murder of her husband, “this hat movement did not silence him and they will not silence him because here I remain firm with the firm conviction that he taught me (…) his legacy will continue, even if they have silenced his voice (…) Carlos Manzo will not be forgotten”.

Coordination with Sheinbaum

With a broken voice, Grecia Quiroz assumed the mayoralty of Uruapan and remembered her husband, Carlos Manzo, murdered last Saturday. “Today I come with a broken heart because they took away my partner in life, in the struggle, the father of my children,” she said pic.twitter.com/uwbnehYSfr

– El Financiero (@ElFinanciero_Mx) November 5, 2025

On Wednesday, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that Quiroz would be the new municipal president of Uruapan.

“We agreed to continue in communication to support the municipality of Uruapan in this general framework of Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice,” Sehinbaum said during his morning press conference.

He revealed that on Tuesday he met with Quiroz, the murdered mayor’s brother and his close collaborators, to whom he expressed his solidarity and listened to their demands for justice.

Manzo’s murder following a public Day of the Dead event in Uruapan last Saturday sparked outrage in Michoacán, where protests and clashes between demonstrators and police forces have been reported.

According to authorities, one of the alleged assailants was killed after the attack and two people were arrested for their alleged involvement in the crime.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced the additional deployment of security forces and the creation of Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice, a comprehensive strategy that seeks to strengthen security, justice and development in the region.

Authorities have identified several criminal organizations as operating in Uruapan, a town of over 300,000 inhabitants, including the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG), Los Caballeros Templarios, Los Viagras, Pueblos Unidos and Los Blancos de Troya.