Colleagues demand justice for environmentalist slain near Mexico City

By MARIA VERZA
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Academics and colleagues are demanding an investigation into the killing of Mexican researcher and environmentalist Álvaro Arvizu. Arvizu was slain by an axe or hatchet June 13. Colleagues said Thursday the killing appeared to be in retaliation for Arvizu’s work defending forests and water resources in the mountains that ring Mexico City. Official reports initially suggested he was killed during a robbery at the environmental educational center where he worked near the Iztaccihuatl volcano. But colleagues dispute the idea it was a robbery, noting that valuable scientific equipment was not taken. A day before Arvizu’s slaying, another environmentalist who ran a similar center nearby was also killed. Cuauhtémoc Márquez had reported receiving threats.