09/07/2011 — Guadalajara witnessed another political execution this week when Javier García Morales, 58, an Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) politician and deputy director of Lagos de Moreno police force was assassinated late Monday September 5, in a Providencia neighborhood of Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco. García was exiting his Hummer and walking to a meeting at a café in a Guadalajara suburb when an unidentified masked gunman rode up on a motorcycle and shot him four times in the head.
García Morales is the son of Javier García Paniagua, a former secretary of agrarian reform in the administration of Jose Lopez Portillo, former national leader of PRI, and once a serious contender for the presidency. García Morales is also the grandson of General Marcelino García Barragan, former Secretary of Defense during the Gustavo Díaz Ordaz presidency.
Minutes after the assassination, Jalisco PRI leader Robert Marrufo, deputies Luis Armando Córdova and Enrique Aubry, and council member Javier Galván rushed to the scene. Councilman Javier Galvan, a friend of García, remarked that the killing, “moves us all, myself personally, I see it as an unfortunate act, a very cowardly act and end to the life of a person.”
On a visit to Guadalajara, President Felipe Calderón expressed his condolences for the killing, “I regret the deplorable events that occurred yesterday in Guadalajara with the murder of García Morales, an important Jalisco chief operating officer.” The President offered his support in the investigation and sent his condolences to the family. Calderón further emphasized that if his administration had not pushed the fight against drug traffickers and drug-related violence, “today Mexico, would be governed by criminals.” When interviewed, Jalisco Attorney General (Procurador General de Jalisco) Tomas Coronado Olmos refused to be drawn into speculating on a motive for the crime, but said he would not discard any line of investigation.
Sources:
Zamarroni, Ulises. “Matan a hijo de García Paniagua.” El Universal. September 8, 2011.
“Hitmen kill son of prominent politician.” Guadalajara Reporter. September 6, 2011.
“Última morada será en Colima.” El Occidental. September 8, 2011.
