Two Jesuit Priests Killed Inside a Church In Northern Mexico
Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar, two elderly Jesuit priests, were killed on Mon. inside a church in Chihuahua, northern Mexico as gunmen reportedly hunted a man who sought refuge there....
Facts
- Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar, two elderly Jesuit priests, were killed on Mon. inside a church in Chihuahua, northern Mexico as gunmen reportedly hunted a man who sought refuge there.1
- The man seeking refuge inside the church, later identified as the tour guide Pedro Eliodoro Palma Gutiérrez, was also murdered.2
- A third priest was left alive but the gunmen refused his request to leave the bodies of the deceased priests.3
- The church is located in Cerocahui, in the remote area of the Tarahumara mountains, which has been overrun with violence spilling over from the major drug-producing states of Sonora and Sinaloa.4
- Following the killings, the Mexican branch of the Society of Jesus demanded justice and the return of the bodies, which were taken by the gunmen. Seven priests have been slain since Dec. 2018.5
- Pres. López Obrador declared on Tues. that authorities have information on the suspects, stressing the presence of organized crime in the area.2
Sources: 1Independent, 2Washington Post, 3FOX News, 4Guardian and 5CBS.
Narratives
- Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Forbes. López Obrador has failed to tackle corruption and violence. He has spent all of his time verbally assaulting his political foes and building a new national military police force while violence has been surging across Mexico.
- Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. López Obrador has taken vital actions to assist the displaced and deploy troops to restore order in towns overtaken by the cartels. He did this while fully recognizing the humanitarian crisis created by drug cartel violence.
