Who next? Reformers fear the assassin in Mexico - The aftermath of the killing of another PRI leader
If Mr Ernesto Zedillo, Mexico's next president, had any doubts about the difficulties of reforming Mexico's governing party and the country's corrupt judicial and legal system, the assassination last week of Mr Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the party's number two official, will probably have removed them. Mr Ruiz Massieu's killing was allegedly ordered by Mr Manuel Munoz Rocha, a federal deputy of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI), and Mr Abraham Rubio Canales, a former tourism developer with strong links to the Gulf drug cartel in the state of Tamaulipas. The two allegedly hired the gunman, and other accomplices, according to testimony from one man who has confessed to his role in the killing. This alleged alliance between a hardliner in the governing party and a man with links to a drug gang has underlined concerns that efforts by Mr Zedillo to reform his party and the country's criminal justice system will be met with fierce and violent resistance from those who stand to lose from these changes. According to testimony from the alleged accomplices to the assassination, the conspirators drew up a list of reform-minded politicians with plans to kill all of them. Since Mr Ruiz Massieu's assassination, there has been renewed speculation that political reactionaries and drug traffickers may have had a hand in the killing six months ago of Mr Luis Donaldo Colosio, the ruling party's reform-minded presidential candidate, even though no evidence has emerged to indicate this is the case. Mr Carlos Fuentes, the novelist, asked yesterday in a newspaper article entitled 'Who is next?' whether Mexico, like Colombia, was facing a period of sustained political violence orchestrated by drug barons. Other columnists have insinuated that more groups than currently revealed might be involved in Mr Ruiz Massieu's murder. Mr Munoz Rocha has promised to hand himself in if his safety is guaranteed, according to a statement by Mexico's Congress. Two newspapers reported yesterday that Mr Munoz Rocha has admitted to a role in the crime but put the responsibility on Mr Rubio Canales, who reportedly blames Mr Ruiz Massieu for his conviction for fraud in 1992, and the prison sentence he is currently serving. Mr Munoz Rocha said he participated in the assassination 'because I was angry that I had not been supported in my political aspirations'. The ruling party has denied that the crime reflects an internal battle between ideological factions in the PRI. Mr Ignacio Pichardo, the president of the party, declared on Monday that Mr Munoz Rocha 'never had intellectual interests, never raised issues of political theory, and was never associated with making ideological pronouncements.' Mr Pichardo insisted that the reform of the PRI would go ahead. As if to underline this pledge, Ms Maria de los Angeles Moreno, the head of the PRI group in the Chamber of Deputies and a reformist, was appointed to replace Mr Ruiz Massieu as the party's secretary-general. Government officials have suggested the Gulf drug cartel may have deliberately involved Mr Munoz Rocha in the assassination to maximise the political impact of the crime. The motives of drug traffickers are uncertain. One view is they believed the assassination would weaken Mr Ruiz Massieu's brother, Mario, who is the deputy attorney general in charge of drug enforcement. If this was the motivation, the plan may have backfired. Mr Ruiz Massieu has taken charge of the investigation into his brother's death, and search for drug cartel members appears to have intensified. Another view is the cartel was seeking revenge. Mr Mario Ruiz Massieu recently had arrested Raul Valladares, top lieutenant in the Gulf Cartel and son-in-law of Mr Rubio Canales, the man in the Acapulco jail accused of jointly plotting the assassination.
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