Former Coahuayutla mayor Gilberto Dorantes Basurto killed in Guerrero highway ambush

Gilberto Dorantes Basurto, a former mayor of Coahuayutla who later served as La Unión’s deputy public security director, was killed in an armed ambush on a federal highway in Guerrero. The attack took place around 8 p.m. Saturday near the community of La Paz, according to a police report.

Dorantes Basurto was traveling in an official Coahuayutla police patrol vehicle toward Petacalco with two officers. The attack killed him and officer Silvano Peñaloza Peñaloza. The second officer survived but suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital. Authorities had not identified that officer publicly.

Dorantes Basurto was a member of the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD. He led the party at the municipal level before serving as Coahuayutla’s mayor from 2009 to 2012. In the 2024 election, he ran for mayor again as the PRD candidate.

Nearly 24 hours after the killing, neither Coahuayutla’s municipal government nor Guerrero’s state prosecutor had issued a public statement. The state PRD leader condemned the crime and urged state and federal authorities to carry out a serious, thorough investigation, saying the killing must not go unpunished and that officials must guarantee public safety.

The article also recalled that in 2015, in the Chilpancingo community of Petaquillas, Dorantes Basurto recovered the body of his son, Junior Dorantes. Local press reports said one of his son’s friends kidnapped him, demanded more than 1 million pesos in ransom, and later killed and secretly buried him after authorities became involved.

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The crime must not remain unpunished, and the safety of the entire population must be guaranteed.