You know the mayor? Somebody just tried to kill him. The would-be assassins stopped his car with a roadblock just outside the pueblo on the only route into town (from which there is a vantage point that would allow them to anticipate his arrival; fired one bullet that passed through the driver´s side window and exited the passenger window, narrowly missing the mayor´s head; shot a second bullet that hit the post in- between the front and rear driver´s side windows and would have struck the mayor had it penetrated; and shot out the rear tire with a third bullet as he escaped.
This was certainly not a chance incident or robbery attempt, and the culprits seemed intent on a kill rather a warning... since then, he´s received further threats and has hired a security guard for the evenings. He has a wonderful family who has always been good to me, and although they´ve remained very composed, I think they´re fully aware that when individuals are vengeful enough to attempt a murder, they´re not going to give up after one attempt.
Yet, this incident has made clear that despite my best attempts to stay connected and aware, there are obviously goings- on that I´m unaware of. I certainly don´t know of anything that the mayor has done that could possibly anger anybody enough to try killing him. And I know that political affiliations run deep (and in such a small town, the political is personal), but perhaps I´ve misinterpreted just how deep.
I´m not personally in any danger (the Peace Corps checked things out and agreed, and if I ever felt threatened, I was told a site change could be arranged),but needless to say, I´m distancing myself from anything very political right now focusing more on working with the Unidad de Salud.