Newly elected Mexican congresswoman kidnapped after violent ambush

The general election in Mexico has brought a wave of violence against elected officials and political candidates

(Twitter)

A woman recently elected to serve in Mexico's Congress has been kidnapped after a violent ambush at gunpoint.

Norma Azucena Rodríguez is the latest Mexican official to be abducted in central Hidalgo state, one of the most dangerous regions in the country. She was said to be travelling down a highway when two men opened fire on her vehicle, injuring her driver and assistant and causing the car to flip over.

Ms Rodríguez was then seized by the gunmen, who pulled her out of the vehicle and fled after forcing her into their car. Her whereabouts, along with the motive of the assailants, remain unknown.

Gangs view local representatives in Mexico as targets for abduction and violence — especially when an official appears to be working against the interests of criminal gangs

The 32-year-old representative of the centre-left Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) previously served as the mayor of of Tihuatlán in Veracruz, and was elected 1 July to serve in the lower house of Congress.

She is due to be sworn in on 1 September.

Just last month, a mayor was kidnapped on the same highway in Hidalgo where Ms Rodríguez was taken from this week. Assailants seized Genaro Negrete Urbano, the mayor of Naupan, from a vehicle driving on the street in July.

Mr Urbano was later found dead with a gunshot wound.

The PRD has demanded the gunmen release Ms Rodríguez alive. Meanwhile, the 2018 general election in Mexico has brought a wave of violence against candidates vying for political office, with at least 48 murders nationwide throughout the campaign.

Nearly 400 people have already been taken in 2018 between January and March, according to data from the Mexican National System of Public Security.