Guerrero: Aggresions against displaced, and newly displaced in Tierra Caliente

On 17 July, some 180 families from 5 communities of the San Miguel Totolapan municipality abandoned their homes after having received death threats from organized crime groups which operate in the Tierra Caliente region of Guerrero. Those displaced noted that before leaving, they had requested the assistance of the state government, but met with no response, and for this reason they decided to flee–this after three days of gunfire which left several persons injured and some homes burned down. On 18 July, the state government announced that it would support them with food aid, and that soldiers and state police had been transferred to the region to guarantee their security. The majority of those displaced returned to their communities shortly thereafter, with only 40 persons being left in temporary housing.

Displacements from the Tierra Caliente region began more than two years ago, with residents of the La Laguna and Hacienda de Dolores (Coyuca de Catalán municipality). For its part, the Collective against Torture and Impunity (CCTI) denounced recently that “the deficient attention given to the causes of forced internal displacement effectively imperils the lives and security of the displaced families who survive in precarious conditions.” On 21 July, it reported that residents from La Laguna and Hacienda de Dolores who had taken refuge in La Unión, Ayutla de los Libres municipality, were expected to be ambushed at any moment. The CCTI reported that there was an exchange of gunfire in which two aggressors died, and “the displaced, for circumstantial reasons, were not injured.” It warned that “though 7 years have passed since the beginning of the disappearances and murders, to date there has been no one who is being processed or sentenced for the more than 30 murders suffered by the families of La Laguna, who have experienced nearly 14 months of forced internal displacement […]. This behavior on the part of the state government has allowed the aggressors to enjoy impunity and have the confidence to continue with their aggressions against the displaced, who now find themselves more than 18 hours from their places of origin.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Preocupa a CNDH casos de desplazados en Guerrero (El Universal, 22 de julio de 2013)

Familias de pueblos de Guerrero huyen de sus casas ante amenazas de muerte (La Jornada, 19 de julio de 2013)

Desplazados en Guerrero regresan a sus casas vigilados por el Ejército (CNN México, 22 de julio)

Acción Urgente del Colectivo Contra la Tortura y la Impunidad aquí. (para firmar en línea)

No hay ningún detenido por los 30 homicidios contra los desplazados de La Laguna, reclaman (El Sur de Acapulco, 26 de julio de 2013)

Mueren dos sicarios cuando iban a matar a desplazados de la sierra (La Jornada de Guerrero, 22 de julio de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: new displacement of families from La Laguna to Puerto de las Ollas (7 December 2012)

Guerrero: two nephews of ecological leadership are murdered (16 November 2012)

Guerrero: Urgent Action for disappeared ecologists (8 February 2012)

Guerrero briefs: Two ecologists are kidnapped by armed men in the Sierra de Petatlán (14 December 2011)