Thousands protest Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, fearing far-right return
Thousands of people joined a student march in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to protest against presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of Brazil's October 25 presidential runoff. Bolsonaro led Sunday's first-round vote, prompting demonstrators to rally behind incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and oppose the far right's return to power.
Mexico sends forensic experts to alleged cartel 'extermination site'
Oct. 8 (UPI) -- The Mexican government has sent a specialized forensic team to reinforce search operations at a rural property in the western state of Nayarit, where state prosecutors reported discovering an alleged "extermination site" linked to organized crime.
During her morning news conference Thursday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she instructed the Interior Ministry, through the National Search Commission, to contact state authorities and send experts to Nayarit.
"Until the Search Commission arrives and carries out its work, we cannot officially say what was found at this site," Sheinbaum said.
The Nayarit state prosecutor's office and groups of mothers searching for missing relatives reported Wednesday the discovery of an alleged "incineration and extermination site" in La Curva, a community in the municipality of Xalisco.
An anonymous tip led search groups and state prosecutors to the property, where authorities found clothing, a makeshift furnace, charred remains and a grave containing recently buried bodies, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal.
Criminals allegedly used a metal drum containing a mixture of diesel, gasoline and soap, with the soap intended to help the fuel adhere to skin and clothing. After burning the bodies, they allegedly dumped the charred remains into a nearby stream to destroy evidence.
The property, known as "El Dragón," is suspected of being linked to operations by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Forensic experts began formally processing the site Oct. 3, according to Mexican news outlets Aristegui Noticias and La Jornada.
Nayarit Attorney General Ludmila Heredia compared the alleged methods used at the property to those reported at Rancho Izaguirre in Teuchitlán, Jalisco. In March 2025, the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco search collective discovered more than 1,300 pieces of evidence at the property, including hundreds of items of clothing, backpacks, shoes, altars dedicated to Santa Muerte (Saint Death) and notebooks containing lists of names and nicknames.
Federal authorities previously identified that compound as a site used by the CJNG for training, forced recruitment and extermination.
Given the scale of the discovery, experts from the National Search Commission will reinforce search operations, expedite the forensic examination of remains and coordinate assistance for groups representing families of missing people in the region.
The discovery in Nayarit also brought to light an alleged plot to attack Gov. Miguel Ángel Navarro and the state's attorney general.
According to Navarro, escalating violence and direct death threats followed the breakdown of previous collusive arrangements between local police and drug cartels.
Federal troops have been deployed across the municipality to protect forensic operations and prevent retaliation by criminal groups operating in the area through a violent network of competing local cells.
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