The Plot Thickens in the Chavarría Assassination
(Chilpancingo, AN 28 April) The former state attorney general, David Sotelo Rosas, insists that the investigative file on the assassination in 2009 of a political opponent of then-governor Zeferino Torreblanca Galindo was not stolen or destroyed. He insists that the matter was taken over by the Federal Attorney General’s office on June 4, 2010. The federal AG’s office has yet to say whether the dossier is in their possession or not. Nothing explains why no trace of the matter can be found at the state level. When files are transferred, the law requires that certified copies of all documents remain behind.
Sotelo Rosas and his former boss, the ex-governor, have evidently hinted that the matter is a “witch hunt” mounted by the new administration to “take vengeance” on their predecessors. The current attorney general, Alberto López Rosas, has said publicly that the former governor “persecuted and pursued” him throughout the six year mandate. A committee of the State Legislature has requested that the Attorney General appear to provide further details in the matter of the missing investigation files. He has said to the press that his is well-disposed to appear, “just as soon as Governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero approves of his cooperation, and that the summons was issued in accordance with law.” He has denied that the matter has anything to do with vengeance, and is simply being pursued as part of his responsibilities to ensure the complete and competent investigation of this political homicide.
For her part, the widow of Armando Chavarría, Martha Obeso Cázares, has requested a clarification of the situation, warning that she will pursue her legal rights against anyone responsible for the crime or its cover-up. She and the brothers of the deceased have been unhesitating in alleging that the “hit” on Chavarría was authorized and carried out by persons in power. She added that 20 months have passed since the crime was committed, and she has neither received information about who was responsible, nor an explanation why they chose to kill her husband.
