motive in murietta s murder but the victim seemed to know he was at risk. saying this a few days before he died. he went on to say the streets belong to the people, not the criminals. and some of those people turned up here, to his funeral. they gave him a standing ovation, as his coffin was led out. matt rivers, cnn, mexico city. talk more about this with our senior latin america affairs editor, raphael romo. raphael joins me now here in the studio. lovely to haveou. it s great to have you in the studio. it s been a while. yes. let s talk about mexico. this is the largest elections the country s having in its history. why are they so important? and what s at stake? it s just the sheer size of the election. we are talking about
cnn s matt rivers looks at the violence. amara and boris, today s midterm elections here in mexico are the rgest to take place in this country. more than 20,000 candidates for a variety of offices on ballots nationwide, but the person who s being talked about with the most to perhaps gain or lose from the outcome of these elections is someone who s not even on voters ballots, mexico s president. here is abel murietta, a candidate for office. crime was his number one issue. but just one day after filming this ad, he was dead. shot and killed may 13th in broad daylight on a busy street while handing out campaign flyers. state authorities say murietta was deliberately targeted but don t know by whom. suspects or not, though, it s
well, campaigning ahead of mexico s elections was one of the most violent in years. since september, over 90 politicians have been killed. at least 35 of them were candidates in sunday s elections, including a mayoral candidate gunned down on friday. matt rivers has more on this. matt. reporter: here is abel, a candidate for local office, in the mexican municipality. crime was his number-one issue. [ speaking foreign language ] but just one day after filming this ad, he was dead. shot and killed, may 13th, in broad daylight, on a busy street, while handing out campaign flyers. state authorities say murietta was deliberately targeted but don t know by whom. suspects or not, though, it s just further proof that, in mexico, politics can be deadly.
groups want their preferred candidate in office. and so, they might target others, they don t like. especially, candidates who make crime a centerpiece of their campaigns. candidates that talk the way they speak, clearly, are going to run bigger risks. reporter: murietta was known for challenging criminal groups and drug cartels. as a private lawyer, he was also representing an outspoken family with dual u.s.-mexico citizenship that lost nine of its members when they were murdered by suspected-cartel members in mexico in late 2019. tweeted shortly after he was killed, saying in part, quote, they have killed my defender. what do we call this? the rule of law? do you believe he was killed because of his opposition to the cartels? yes. he was always exposing them. to me, he he died a martyr. reporter: authorities have not identified any suspects or
here is going to take a long time. david? victor oquendo with us tonight. victor, thank you. to the other major story unfolding right now. a dangerous wildfire burning out of control in southern california, threatening homes now, forcing evacuations. and abc s kayna whitworth with the images coming in right now. reporter: tonight, a fast-moving wildfire burning dangerously close to homes in riverside county, near the city of murietta, about 80 miles east of los angeles. more than 500 firefighters tonight battling the blaze, an all-out assault by air and on the ground. flames scorching 2,000 acres since yesterday, ripping through these hills overnight. homeowners frantically working to save their homes. just depends on how the wind s going to if it changes direction, then, you know, a lot can change quickly. so, that s always a concern. reporter: tonight, 1,200 residents have been evacuated. this driver documenting her harrowing escape. it s scary. we ve packed up. waiting