Survivor of Mexico armed attack given protection

Albino Gómez disappeared after an attack in which his campaign manager was killed

A Mexican mayoral candidate who survived an armed attack in which his campaign manager was killed has been given police protection.

Albino Gómez disappeared after the attack in southern Guerrero state on Sunday and his party said he had been kidnapped.

He was later found alive and his colleagues have since clarified that he had managed to escape and had been in hiding.

The campaign for Sunday's election in Mexico has been wracked by violence and Guerrero is the most dangerous state for candidates.

Mr Gómez is running for mayor for the governing Morena party in the municipality of Cochoapa el Grande.

He was targeted shortly after he attended his closing campaign rally when at least one gunman stormed the house he was at and opened fire.

Mr Gómez's campaign manager, Felipe Chávez, was killed and two more people were reportedly injured in the attack.

The mayor of the nearby town of Chilpancingo sounded the alarm.

She urged authorities to "take the necessary action to safeguard the life of our colleague and those of his team".

The mayor explained on Monday that preliminary information she had been given led her to believe that Mr Gómez had been seized by the gunman.

She said she was relieved to learn that Mr Gómez was well and under police protection.

Police and officials from the attorney-generals office are investigating the case.

They have not yet released any information as to who may have been behind the attack or what the motive was.

The run-up to the election, in which a new president as well as members of the legislature, nine governors and almost 20,000 local officials will be chosen, has been the most violent in recent history.

Dozens of candidates have been killed and hundreds have been threatened.

Candidates running for local office have been the worst affected.

Mexico's powerful criminal groups target them to ensure that their favoured candidate wins, or to frighten rival candidates into complying with their demands.

Corrupting or threatening local officials can yield huge rewards for criminal groups.

Not only can municipal authorities be coerced to turn a blind eye to criminal activity in their area, they can also be forced to channel lucrative building contracts to the gangs.