Zenyazen Escobar, a Mexican congressman who once performed as a stripper, was found dead Friday from a gunshot wound inside his Mercedes-Benz in Veracruz.
Escobar, 42, was discovered slumped in the driver’s seat of the luxury vehicle on the side of a road, according to Veracruz state secretary Ricardo Ahued, who addressed reporters at a press conference. The Morena party lawmaker had sustained at least one gunshot to the head. Images broadcast by Mexican television outlets showed a black firearm positioned between his legs.
Ahued ruled out an attack as the cause of death. “It wasn’t an attack, because the car is off to the side,” he said. “There are no signs of major damage to the vehicle … A tragic death involving a firearm.”
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office has taken the lead on the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Escobar’s death, Ahued confirmed. The case emerges amid a wave of political violence across the country. Human rights organization Data Civica documented at least 30 incidents linked to “political-criminal violence” in July alone across 11 Mexican states, including 14 homicides.
Escobar’s path to national office was unconventional. During his early adulthood, he worked as a stripper under the stage name “Tarzan Boy.” After shirtless photos from that period surfaced on social media, he maintained that he had been training for local bodybuilding competitions at the time. Beyond his performing career, Escobar held a teaching license and participated in multiple education movements before entering politics.
He first sought public office in 2016, winning election to the Veracruz state congress. In 2018, then-Governor Cuitláhuac GarcÃa appointed him as the state’s secretary of education, a post he held until 2023. That year, Escobar stepped down to launch a bid for governor but withdrew from the race after polling poorly. Voters in Veracruz’s 16th District elected him as a federal representative in August 2024.
GarcÃa paid tribute to his former appointee and political ally in a Facebook post following news of his death. “I deeply mourn the passing of my friend and fellow party member Zenyazen Escobar GarcÃa, with whom I shared years of struggle, hard work, and commitment to the service of the people of Veracruz,” he wrote.
Escobar had drawn national attention just months earlier with a chaotic appearance in the legislative chamber. On May 28, he allegedly arrived intoxicated at the Chamber of Deputies and confronted Institutional Revolutionary Party Congressman Carlos Gutiérrez, challenging him to a fight in a scene captured on video that quickly spread across social media platforms. During the exchange, Gutiérrez shouted, “You f–king stripper, social climber,” at Escobar, who responded by advancing toward him and assuming a fighting stance before other lawmakers intervened to separate them. Institutional Revolutionary Party Congresswoman Isabel González subsequently demanded that Escobar submit to a drug test.
The incident marked a volatile moment in Escobar’s brief tenure as a federal lawmaker, coming just three months after he took office. His death now leaves the Morena party without one of its more colorful and controversial figures in the Veracruz delegation.
