The youtuber Yulaywho three months ago carried out a video about violence in Uruapan accompanied by Mayor Carlos Manzoexpressed his condolences on his social networks after the murder of the president, who was attacked by gunfire on the night of November 1 during the Day of the Dead festivities.
Through your account Facebookthe content creator expressed his dismay and pain after the events and shared a message in which he described the municipal president as “our only hope” in the face of the violence that is plaguing Mexico.
Julio César Fuentes, Yulay’s real name, published the photograph of Carlos Manzo and accompanied it with the phrase: “My prayers for this old man, our only hope” along with emojis of hands in prayer and a white dove.
Both characters met when the influencer traveled to said municipality of Michoacán to make a documentary about insecurity. There, Yulay and Manzo shared night tours where they showed how the mayor led the actions personally.
The collaboration between the YouTuber and the mayor allowed us to show the magnitude of the challenges facing Uruapan, known as one of the most violent in Mexico. The video, recorded in July, exposed operations led personally by Manzo, in which he toured, together with the police and the content creator, neighborhoods classified as “red zones”, such as Arroyo Colorado, affected by the presence of armed groups since 2019.
At the beginning of the documentary, Yulay contextualizes the local crisis: “We are about to enter Uruapan, Michoacán, the fourth most dangerous city in all of Mexico. There is no law here, or at least that’s what it seemed like. But something is changing. A citizen got tired of bowing his head and decided to face fear”was expressed by the mayor.
Carlos Manzo, who assumed the municipal presidency in September 2024 with the independent movement “Los del Sombrero”patrolled the streets with bulletproof vest, transmitted some live operations through social networks and continually denounced the violence of organized crime in interviews and digital platforms.
“There is a big difference in this government with others,” he pointed out to the Yulay camera, underlining the rejection of any link with organized crime: “First, that this government is not linked to organized crime.”
Referring to his administration’s approach, he explained: “I think that (Zero Tolerance) was born from people’s fatigue…”. During one of the nights of patrolling, Manzo shared: “We place the municipality in first place among the most unsafe cities in the country. The one we deal with most frequently is vehicle theft… In September, when I entered, approximately 150 vehicles were stolen, most of them with the luxury of violence. And we began to detain and secure drugs, weapons… Weapons for the exclusive use of the army have been confiscated, including even grenade launchers.”
Throughout the operation, Manzo himself detailed: “We have had to be in confrontations and persecutions. I believe that no municipal president, or very few in the country, take up this flag, they go in front of the patrols, of the operations, because it is the best way to lead by example and also motivate the troops.”
Manzo admitted to Yulay the fear of losing his life. When asked by the youtuber if he ever thought that he would not survive any intervention, the municipal president said: “In the month of April, we had to attend to a chase. We received the alert, we reached the vehicle that had been stolen here in an area called Calzoncin and there were exchanges of shots. The same criminals were shooting at each other.”
In different scenes, Manzo and his team carry out preventive inspections; The mayor orders arrests and searches for vehicle theft, armed robberies and other irregularities. Direct contact with the participating population, as well as testimonies about life under threat, complete the portrait of security challenges:
“Very few risk their lives so that others can live in peace and even fewer go into places where everyone runs away. But sometimes we have to take the wheel, because if we don’t do it, no one is going to do it. This city has open wounds, yes, but it also has people with a lot of balls. And although the problems don’t end, the fight continues with those who don’t give up,” Yulay reflected towards the end of the documentary.
Carlos Manzo regularly patrolled protected by a bulletproof vest and had an official security scheme assigned since December, reinforced by the National Guard with 14 items since May according to public statements by the federal Secretary of Public Security.
The day of the crime, Manzo received two gunshot wounds in the abdomen and one in the arm, facts confirmed by the Security Cabinet. One of the attackers was arrested and another killed. According to journalist Luis Chaparro, the attackers would have received a payment of 50 thousand pesos.
The murder revived protests in Uruapan and Morelia, where the funeral was held amid mariachi music and public demands for justice that ended with damage to the Government Palace and repudiation of the governor of Michoacán, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla.
