Deceased Mexican human rights worker Cecilia Monzón. Photo: Twitter 

By MARK LORENZANA

Javier López Zavala, former secretary of the government under Mario Marín, who served as the governor of the central Mexican state of Puebla, was arrested Monday, June 6, in connection to the murder of longtime Mexican human rights worker and legal defender Cecilia Monzón. López Zavala is the ex-husband of Monzón.

Monzón was shot dead in front of the La Riviera subdivision in San Pedro Cholula, Puebla, on Saturday, May 21. According to eyewitness and police reports, Monzón was ambushed by two men on a motorcycle, who shot at her before fleeing the scene of the crime.

In an official statement, the Puebla Prosecutor’s Office said that after the arrest that López Zavala, who has a son with Monzón, plotted the murder last April, when Monzón demanded payment of child support.

According to the investigation, which led to the arrest of López Zavala, the politician delivered the murder weapon to his nephew Jair who, along with another suspect named Silvestre, monitored Monzón’s movements and together followed the human rights lawyer in a motorcycle. Monzón was shot at six times while driving her van.

Helena Monzón, the activist’s sister, confirmed the request for alimony. “I know everything about the alimony, in detail. Do I know that this was the reason for the murder? I’m not going to speculate, and I hope not, but it’s up to the Prosecutor’s Office,” she said.

López Zavala was also a candidate for governor of Puebla in 2010 for the centralist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).