The former governor of the Mexican state of Veracruz, Javier Duarte, has arrived back in his home country after extradition from Guatamala, three months after he sought refuge there, writes Martha Pskowski.
Mr Duarte has been charged with corruption, involvement with organised crime and money laundering. Social justice pressure groups are also pressing for Mr Duarte to be investigated over the deaths of a number of journalists and hundreds of missing persons cases during his administration.
In the two first hearings since Mr Duarte was extradited, the federal prosecutor’s office set out evidence for the charges of corruption and money laundering. Mr Duarte is suspected of having siphoned off US$35 million of public money from the Veracruz budget into shell companies.
Veracruz became one of the most dangerous places in Mexico for journalists while Mr Duarte was governor: 17 journalists from the state were killed during his term from 2010 to 2016. One of the most publicised cases was that of Rubén Espinosa, a photo-journalist in the capital Xalapa, who fled Veracruz only to be murdered in Mexico City on 1 August 2015. No direct link to Mr Duarte has been proved in the case. The Bishop of Veracruz, Luis Felipe Gallardo, said that Mr Duarte, “has to respond, and account for his actions”.
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