On 1 November 2025, Manzo attended the Festival de las Velas, a traditional annual candle-lit
Day of the Dead celebration, in central Uruapan. At approximately 8:10 p.m.
CST (
UTC−6), while he was with his family observing the festival decorations and speaking with residents, Manzo was shot seven times. Three of the bullets struck him in the back and abdomen, with the latter wound proving fatal. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. He was 40 years old. Víctor Hugo de la Cruz, a member of the Uruapan municipal council, and a bodyguard were also injured in the attack. The weapon used in the attack, a
9mm Beretta pistol, was later linked to two other incidents that resulted in three deaths and two injuries. Manzo's killer was identified by the state attorney general on 6 November as Víctor Manuel Ubaldo Vidales, a 17-year-old from
Paracho, Michoacán. According to the state attorney general, the attacker was under the influence of
methamphetamine and
tetrahydrocannabinol, and had been reported missing from his home a week earlier. Governor Ramírez Bedolla stated that two other alleged suspects, including a minor, were found dead on 14 November along
Federal Highway 37 between Uruapan and Paracho. García Harfuch reported that Jorge Armando, known as "El Licenciado", member of the CJNG, was arrested on 18 November. According to the investigation, he coordinated the surveillance and ordered the attack on Manzo. García Harfuch also confirmed the identification of the two individuals killed days earlier as Fernando Josué and Ramiro, who were allegedly killed to obstruct the investigation. On 21 November, seven police officers serving in Manzo's security detail were arrested on suspicion of involvement in Manzo's killing.
Government response City trustee Hilda Flor del Campo Maldonado Medina was named as Manzo's interim successor, while his supporters called for his widow,
Grecia Quiroz, to be appointed to complete his term in office. Governor Ramírez Bedolla confirmed that Manzo's replacement would be determined by his own independent movement, and a formal proposal to that effect was lodged with the
state congress. She vowed to carry on his stance against organized crime. Quiroz met with President Sheinbaum at the
National Palace in Mexico City on 3 November. The following day, Sheinbaum announced the "Michoacán Plan for Peace and Justice", a security plan for the state including the deployment of the
National Guard, more
federal personnel, and the creation of a special unit at the state prosecutor's office. The plan covers three broad thematic areas: security and justice, economic development with justice, and education and culture for peace. Meetings with the
federal security cabinet would be held every two weeks, and an alert system for the state's mayors would be put in place.
Public reactions Manzo was the seventh municipal president to be killed in Michoacán during the governorship of Ramírez Bedolla – a member of Morena elected to a six-year term in 2021 – and the country's sixth municipal president killed in 2025. At Manzo's funeral in Uruapan on 2 November, Governor Ramírez Bedolla was received with indignation by a crowd of hundreds of townspeople. Members of the public called him a murderer and demanded justice for the mayor's assassination. The governor's security personnel advised him to withdraw after less than five minutes at the funeral home;
Proceso also reported that Grecia Quiroz, Manzo's widow, had allegedly asked him to leave. Thousands of people marched through the streets of Uruapan to accompany Manzo's body to its final resting place. Addressing the crowd at the city's main square, Quiroz called on them to continue defending their country "with tooth and nail". Residents of Uruapan began collecting keys to be melted down into a statue honoring Manzo. A
TikToker released a
corrido in his memory, and the group Banda Perla considered renaming their song "Ilusión 98" after him, as it was one of his favorites.
Protests , Michoacán, on 15 November A protest march was organized in
Morelia, the capital of Michoacán, on 2 November, following anonymous social media calls the night before urging participants to gather at Plaza Jardín Morelos wearing white. An estimated 3,000 people marched through the historic center, chanting slogans such as "Justice for Manzo", "Enough with all this crime", and "Claudia didn't listen and the government killed him". Later, a contingent –"numbering in the hundreds"– stormed the state government palace. Armed with
molotov cocktails, sticks, and stones, the protesters forced the building's main entrance and gained access to the government offices inside. They set fire to some of the furniture, threw other pieces down to the street below, and daubed slogans on the interior and exterior walls. The police deployed
tear gas inside the complex to disperse the protesters, and the building was placed under police guard; eight people were arrested. A second march in Morelia was organized by students on 3November, during which a law student was injured in the eye by a
rubber bullet. Additional demonstrations took place in the Michoacán municipalities of
Pátzcuaro,
Zitácuaro and
Apatzingán, with additional complaints condemning the
killing of Bernardo Bravo two weeks earlier. In Apatzingán, the state's fourth largest city, protesters forced their way into the municipal palace and set furniture on fire. Grecia Quiroz urged people to avoid violent demonstrations, saying it was not what her husband would have wanted. A march demanding security and justice – attended, according to the local authorities, by between 70,000 and 80,000 people – was held in Uruapan on 7 November. It was headed by Manzo's grandmother. She said that although she feared for his life, he had told her, "I have to save Uruapan. I love it because it's my home. I adore its people". During the demonstration, participants called for the suspension of government and business activities. Social media users organized
a nationwide protest for 15 November, with marches held in over 50 cities, including
Mexico City. Over 120 people, including 100 police officers, were injured at the Mexico City rally, and 47 people were arrested in Guadalajara. ==See also==