CROC Union Chief Mario Machuca Shot Dead in Cancún

Mario Machuca Sánchez, secretary-general of the Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros y Campesinos (CROC) and the most prominent union leader for hotel workers in Quintana Roo, was shot dead on Monday in Cancún. He was inside a black 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe when two assailants, travelling on a motorcycle and dressed as app-based food-delivery couriers, opened fire in a car-dealership parking lot near the intersection of Kabah and Chichén Itzá in the city’s central Supermanzana 42 district. The gunmen fled but left behind the motorcycle and a delivery backpack, according to police. The state prosecutor’s office said it has opened a homicide investigation and is examining whether the killing was linked to Machuca’s union activities, while not ruling out other motives. Machuca, 54, served as a local deputy for Cancún from 2016 to 2018 and recently helped found the political group Movimiento Laborista Quintana Roo A.C. He had been scheduled to attend public events in the tourist city earlier in the day. Authorities from all three levels of government are coordinating security-camera analysis and intelligence efforts to identify and arrest the perpetrators. The attack underscores ongoing concerns over violence against labour leaders in Mexico’s tourism-driven southeast region.