Mexican bishop urges more information on shooting death of cardinal

Published: 2008-05-27

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- A bishop in Mexico marked the 15th anniversary of the slaying of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo of Guadalajara by demanding more information on his violent death. Bishop Leopoldo Gonzalez Gonzalez of Tapachula, secretary-general of the Mexican bishops' conference, called the cardinal's murder "a crime of state" and demanded that former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who governed 1988-1994, be more open with investigators still probing the unresolved case. Cardinal Posadas was shot dead May 24, 1993, at Guadalajara's airport. A federal investigation said the cardinal inadvertently was caught in the middle of a shootout between rival narcotics trafficking cartels, which were active in the Guadalajara area during the 1990s. Alfredo Araujo Avila, a top hit man for the Arellano Felix cartel, was arrested in January and implicated in the airport shootout. Araujo was the 13th person to be arrested in connection with the killing, but the Archdiocese of Guadalajara said his detention changed nothing. Several Catholic officials have rejected the federal explanation and considered the prelate's death to be a homicide. They noted that Cardinal Posadas was wearing his usual clerical robes and was shot at close range in the late-afternoon attack that claimed seven lives. "We disagree with the hypothesis of confusion," Bishop Gonzalez said during the May 22 press conference.

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