After 46 years, Argentina reopens the investigation into the death of Bishop Ponce de León
46 years after the events, the investigation into the death of Argentinian bishop Carlos Ponce de León is about to be relaunched.
THEFides agency reports that the Federal Court of Appeals of Rosario overturned the 1978 sentence that characterized the death of Monsignor Carlos Horacio Ponce de León, Bishop of San Nicolas, as a car accident.
AMERICA/ARGENTINA - After 46 years, investigations into the death of Bishop Carlos Ponce de Leon are reopened https://t.co/alhVgvKlW6 pic.twitter.com/WDcrJyXKj9
- Fides News Agency (@FidesNewsAgency) March 1, 2023
The death of Bishop Ponce De León, which occurred on July 11, 1977, on National Highway 9, in the jurisdiction of the city of Ramallo, en route to Buenos Aires, was qualified as homicide due to a traffic accident. This sentence had been handed down under the dictatorship.
However, 46 years after the events, new elements have emerged which justifies the Federal Court of Appeals reopening the investigation, as Fides points out:
"There is evidence that Ponce de León was the subject of intelligence operations, surveillance and threats by the repressive organs of the civil-military dictatorship that ruled the country."
Carlos Ponce de León was born in Buenos Aires on March 17, 1914. He led the Diocese of San Nicolas for 11 years until his accidental death on July 11, 1977.
Bishop Ponce De León was one of the Argentine bishops who most denounced the abuses, crimes and violations of human rights during the military dictatorship, reports the Vatican News.
Salma El Monser
