Priest José Guadalupe Rivas Saldaña and another person were killed in the municipality of Tecate, in Baja California, representatives of the Catholic Church and state authorities said.
The Archdiocese of Tijuana published a message on Facebook on Wednesday in which it regretted the fact and indicated that Rivas Saldaña had more than 25 years working there.
Local media reported — citing information from police and ministerial authorities — that the priest’s body was located along with that of another person not yet identified. The two corpses had signs of violence.
According to reports, Rivas Saldaña had been missing since Sunday and the Attorney General’s Office has already opened an investigation into the events.
Baja California is one of the states with the highest levels of violence in the country. During the first three months of the year, it recorded 593 intentional homicides, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP).
Yesterday, the most recent report from the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) indicated that Baja California “is the least peaceful state in Mexico for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Zacatecas, Colima, Guanajuato and Sonora.”
This, according to the civil organization, due to factors such as homicides, crimes committed with violence, crimes committed with a firearm, organized crime activity and arrests without a sentence.
What we do at Animal Político requires professional journalists, teamwork, dialogue with readers and something very important: independence. You can help us keep going. Be part of the team.
Subscribe to Animal Político, receive benefits and support free journalism.#YoSoyAnimal
