Mexico City, February 19 (RHC-teleSUR) -- Southern Mexico continues to struggle with killings and kidnappings. Three members of a major political party were found dead in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, according to reports Wednesday.

Authorities say they have recovered the bodies of federal legislature candidate Carlos Martínez Villavicencio from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), a companion Fidel Lopez, and their driver Bernardo Bautista. All three were found dead in or near their vehicle in the municipality of Santiago Juxtlahuaca, according to EFE.

According to a statement from the Oaxaca district attorney's office, they “were ambushed by armed men in a van with Federal District license plates.” The Federal District refers to Mexico City. All three were returning from a rally just hours earlier.

The killings come amid a wave of violence in Mexico's South. Earlier this month, five people were massacred in neighboring Guerrero state. The incident took place on Feb. 8, when armed people traveling in six vans attacked the police station and killed four inside, hurt others, and kidnapped three more.

Guerrero state has been on edge since 43 students were disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero, in late 2014.