Pubdate: Thu, 27 Oct 2005
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2005 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Richard Marosi, LA Times Staff Writer

PRIEST'S SLAYING SHAKES TIJUANA

A Popular Cleric's Death, Blamed On Drug Trade, Gives The Border City 
A Record Year For Killings

TIJUANA -- The execution-style killing of a popular priest in an 
upscale restaurant district here has touched off an outpouring of 
grief and pushed the homicide rate to record heights.

At a funeral Mass on Wednesday, about 2,000 people mourned the death 
of Father Luis Velazquez Romero, 52, an outspoken cleric known for 
his social activism.

He was gunned down Monday morning in his 1993 Ford Thunderbird in a 
parking lot. Police found six bullet wounds in his head and neck, and 
his wrists handcuffed behind his back.

Velazquez's death, along with another slaying over the weekend, 
pushed the homicide toll in the Tijuana area this year past the 
record of 355 set in 2004, state police officials said.

The wave of violence in this sprawling Mexican border city has set 
new standards for brazenness. Masked, black-clad gunmen have abducted 
businessmen from popular restaurants in front of horrified diners. 
Their bodies usually appear days later, gagged and showing signs of 
torture. Many merchants are moving across the border to the San Diego area.

Several police officers have also been killed or targeted. Chief 
Homicide Investigator Francisco Castro Trenti escaped injury in a 
shootout a few weeks ago.

Police said the motive in the priest's killing was unclear but that 
the slaying bore the hallmarks of an organized crime hit.

The violent death of Velazquez, the corresponding sensational media 
coverage and questions about the police investigation have heightened 
a sense of frustration in this crime-weary city. Thousands have 
turned out at Masses to mourn the priest, filing into his hillside 
church to kiss his coffin and touch his white robe.

"This assassination has touched the most sensitive part of our 
society," said Carlos Medina Amaro, a longtime parishioner. "If they 
kill a priest, they can kill anybody."

Authorities said they were investigating whether the killing was 
related to the cleric's work and whether he was a victim of drug 
traffickers. Police said they were also taking a close look at the 
priest's personal life.

State police spokesman Filiberto Martinez said Velazquez was not 
suspected of being involved in narcotics trafficking, but that the 
execution-style killing and the .38-caliber handgun used were the 
calling cards of the drug cartels.

"Castro Trenti says this murder will be solved. But it's too soon to 
say when," he said.

The police statement inspired little confidence among residents. Some 
noted that many killings go unsolved and said police often claim 
victims were involved in the drug cartels as an excuse not to 
investigate the crimes thoroughly. "What are the authorities doing?" 
read a sign carried by parishioners at a funeral procession.

Most of the year's killings have been blamed on drug cartels battling 
for control of the trafficking corridor through Tijuana into the U.S.

Velazquez was described as a dynamic priest with a jovial personality 
who easily navigated Tijuana's disparate worlds of wealth and 
poverty. His role model, parishioners and fellow priests say, was 
Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, slain while celebrating Mass in 1980.

He was committed to social causes and founded an outreach group in 
poor neighborhoods. His sermons touched on current events and 
corruption, but he steered clear of politics, parishioners said. Many 
angrily dismissed media reports that said Velazquez might have been 
involved in organized crime.

Parishioner Gerardo Rodriguez, 49, said Velazquez was always on the 
go, fiercely focused on helping the poor, counseling couples, 
fundraising and building the church.

"He was mobbed up all right, mobbed up with God, and the community," 
Rodriguez said.

Velazquez, a native of Guadalajara, was a seminary student and 
missionary in Mexico City and New York City before he moved to 
Tijuana, where he became a priest in 1988. Within a few years of his 
arrival at the parish of Santa Maria Reina, in an upper-middle-class 
area in the hills above a country club, the one-room church 
overflowed with members.

Velazquez broke ground two years ago on a new church, and was only a 
few raffles and fundraisers away from the finishing touches: heavy, 
engraved wooden doors and two statues to flank the entrance.

People came from all over to hear his sermons, a blend of religious 
and social commentary, said parishioners and priests. "His motto was, 
'Carry a newspaper in one hand, and a Bible in the other -- reality 
and the word of God,' " said Jesus Lara, who led Velazquez's outreach group.

Velazquez was a trailblazer in many ways, said Father Florentino 
Durazo, who heads a theological school in Tijuana. Velazquez 
celebrated Mass in the streets and spoke strongly against social 
injustice, he said. Velazquez believed that marriage was the 
foundation of a caring and just society, Durazo said, and was well 
known for helping couples solve relationship problems.

"His death is a terrible wound for the church," Durazo said. "He 
inspired so much enthusiasm, and now the community is suddenly left 
without him."

Velazquez said his last Mass at a retreat for couples in Tecate, 
about 30 miles east of Tijuana. Parishioners said he left at 8:30 
p.m. Sunday. His body was found about 7 a.m. the next morning, in the 
parking lot of the Plaza Fiesta, bullet casings littering the ground 
outside his car.

The plaza is a lively area full of restaurants and bars and some 
media reports have raised questions about why Velazquez was in the 
area. Speculation is rife: Did the priest hear confessions of drug 
kingpins and was killed because he knew too much? Did he take money 
from the wrong people for his church? Was there a dark secret in his 
personal life?

One parishioner said Velazquez was a good man who accomplished much, 
but that he was human. "Everybody has weaknesses," the parishioner said.

Bishop Rafael Romo Munoz of the Tijuana diocese said that "whatever 
comes out from the investigation, let it come out."

Meanwhile, up in the hills, Velazquez's church sits unfinished. The 
building -- with its beige stucco walls and arched entry -- evokes an 
old California mission. Velazquez labored for two years on the 
project, and parishioners said they intended to fulfill their priest's dream.

"I don't know how we'll finish, but we will, in the memory of Father 
Luis," said parishioner Jesus Loredo.

Researcher Cecilia Sanchez in The Times' Mexico City Bureau 
contributed to this report.
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