The Morena federal deputy, Zenyazen Escobar, was found dead this Friday. The discovery of the 42-year-old legislator took place in the municipality of Puente Nacional, Veracruz, a municipality halfway between Xalapa, the state capital, and the Veracruz port. The news, first reported by local media, was confirmed by the Secretary of Government of Veracruz, Ricardo Ahued Bardahuil, at a press conference after midday. “It was not an attack because the car is on the side [on the shoulder]. It does not appear to have been an attack on the vehicle, it was internal,” he cautiously stated. “It is not an attack as such, an assault. It is a regrettable death by a firearm,” he added.
The official avoided giving more details about the incident because it is an open investigation, but he communicated that forensic data is already being collected and that the Attorney General’s Office will take over the case. He indicated that Escobar’s body “appeared” inside a luxury vehicle on the shoulder of a highway alongside a firearm. Escobar was Secretary of Education (2018-2021) under former governor Cuitláhuac García, from the same party, and had arrived at Congress in August 2024. From 2016 to 2018, he was a local deputy in Veracruz and had previously been a teacher in telesecundarias in the same state, according to the Legislative Information System.
Approached by journalists upon entering an event, Lisbeth Aurelia Jiménez, the state prosecutor, confirmed that an investigation file has already been opened regarding the incident. “The triad of experts, prosecutors, and ministerial police has just been established. The investigation is ongoing, and the investigation file is being compiled,” she said. The prosecutor confirmed that there are no other victims and insisted that the reasons for his death are still unknown.
The first reactions to his death were quick to arrive. Deputy Ricardo Monreal expressed his sorrow over the passing of his fellow party member. “Zenyazen dedicated his career to public service in Veracruz, from his work as a teacher to his leadership of the state Secretariat of Education, and more recently as a federal legislator, representing his district’s population with conviction,” he wrote.
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The Morena member Citlalli Hernández sent her solidarity to his family and recalled Escobar’s work: “Teacher and public servant, Zenyazen made education a central part of his life. From the classrooms and the teachers’ movement, he reached the Veracruz Congress, led the state Secretariat of Education, and continued serving Veracruz citizens as a federal deputy of @PartidoMorenaMx.”
Raúl Bolaños-Cacho Cué, president of the Chamber of Deputies, also lamented his death. “We trust that the institutions will carry out a thorough investigation of the facts,” reads his X account. The state governor, Rocío Nahle, sent her condolences through her social media. “I express my deepest condolences to his wife, daughters, and family of our colleague and friend federal deputy Zenyazen Escobar, on this regrettable passing,” she stated.
Escobar had been in the spotlight a few months ago for having challenged the PRI member Carlos Mancilla to a fight in Congress after Mancilla called him a drunk. At one point during the confrontation, Mancilla called Escobar “damn stripper, climber,” after which the latter threatened to hit him. “Hit me now,” the opponent retorted. That’s when everything blew up. “Are you sure, dude?” threatened the Veracruz native. He then took off his hat and raised his fists in a guard position, like a boxer.
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