The charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling for a full and transparent investigation into the murder of a Roman Catholic priest who went missing on Saturday 4 October while returning to his parish of San Cristóbal in Mexico.
The body of 59-year-old Father Bertoldo Pantaléon Estrada was discovered two days later. He'd sustained multiple gunshot wounds inside his vehicle on a highway, around 90km to the south of Atzcala, and 65km south of Mezcala in Guerrero State.
CSW says that while the authorities announced the arrest of a suspect on Friday 10 October, there continue to be questions around the murder. Within a few days of the discovery of the body, the authorities claimed that the priest’s chauffeur had murdered him, but this was rejected by his diocese based on the fact that Father Pantaléon Estrada did not have a chauffeur.
The man arrested on 10 October, identified by the authorities only by his first name and an initial, Miguel Ángel N, has been described as an acquaintance of the priest. He has reportedly given contradictory statements about where he last saw the priest the day he went missing and it is unclear if he acted alone or in coordination with others. No explanation has been provided for why the priest had apparently travelled so far south of his parish.
The area where Father Pantaléon Estrada served as a priest is characterised by the presence of multiple organised criminal groups linked to the trafficking of illegal narcotics, two of which, Los Ardillos and Los Tacos, have been engaged in violent conflict. In 2018 Father Germain Muñiz Garcia, also a parish priest in Mezcala, was shot dead along with another priest, Father Iván Añorve Jaimes, in a highway ambush. Over the past year, a number of political and government figures in Guerrero have been assassinated.
CSW's Director of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘The violent killing of Father Bartoldo Pantaléon Estrada is yet another in a chain of murders of church leaders in Guerrero and across the country over the past two decades, making Mexico one of the deadliest countries in the world for priests and other religious leaders. We join in the calls for a full and transparent investigation into this horrific murder and call on the Mexican authorities at both the state and federal levels to ensure that all of those responsible for Father Pantaléon Estrada’s death are held to account and the motive behind this murder firmly established.’