Two politicians from the soon-to-be-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, have been slain within two days of each other, sending a chilling reminder of the violent Mexico that awaits the new administration.
One of the killings, on Friday in the border state of Sonora, bore the hallmarks of an organised-crime hit: Eduardo Castro Luque, a congressman-elect in the state legislature, was shot to death by masked assassins who sped away on a motorcycle, authorities said.
The second slaying was more unusual: Jaime Serrano Cedillo, a congressman in the state of Mexico legislature, was stabbed to death on Sunday as he walked down a street in Nezahualcoyotl, a sprawling district on the outskirts of Mexico City, authorities and local news reports said.
Both belonged to the PRI, which is returning to presidential power on December 1 after the contentious election of Enrique Pena Nieto.
On Monday, meanwhile, the Public Security Ministry released an annual report that detailed the progress being made in overhauling the corruption-ridden federal police force.
The ministry said 2,045 failed the vetting programme for an assortment of reasons (from committing crimes to using drugs) and had been or would be fired.