Oaxaca: attack against the community of Zimatlán de Lázaro Cárdenas

@ mx.geocities.com/staluciamonteverde

On Wednesday 22 July, residents of Zimatlán de Lázaro Cárdenas, municipality of Putla Villa Guerrero, denounced that a group referred to as being of paramilitary origin from the neighboring town of San Sebastián Nopalera, municipality of Santa Lucía Monteverde, fired on its community, seriously wounding Jaime Jiménez Cruz, 40 years of age.  The two communities, which are located in the Mixteca region of the state of Oaxaca, have experienced conflict over agrarian issues.  Several residents of Zimatlán attempted to evacuate the zone in light of the threat of aggression, but they could not do so, given their encirclement by the aggressor group.

To facilitate the evacuation of children, women, and the elderly from the community, residents of Zimatlán requested that the Center for Human Rights and Assessment of Indigenous Peoples (CEDHAPI) organize a humanitarian caravan to leave on Saturday, 24 July.  They also requested that the state’s public security force and its General Secretary of Government guarantee the security of the displaced; furthermore, they requested that the Commissiojn for the Defense of Human Rights send a representative to the area.  For its part, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asked that the government of Oaxaca produce a report regarding the situation lived in Zimatlán; authorities responded by saying that the affected had been granted security, and that “criminal acts are being investigated.” It should be mentioned that in a recent communiqué CEDHAPI claimed that state authorities had not responded to the calls made by the residents of Zimatlán to detain the actions of the aggressor group.

For more information (in Spanish):

Paramilitary attack in the Mixteca of Oaxaca is denounced; one injured (La Jornada, 23 July)