Oaxaca: Concern for the alarming increase of murders in the state

Ignacio García Maldonado, murdered ex-member of the APPO. Photo (@Noticiasnet.mx)

During the past three weeks there has been a significant increase in the number of murders and extrajudicial executions in Oaxaca; some of these have been had a political character within the context of the social struggles being experienced in Oaxaca.

On 28 March, Basilio Guzmán Sánchez and Martín Sánchez Pérez were murdered in the Constanza del Rosario, being members of the Movement for Triqui Unification and Struggle (MULT). That same day, the logging capitalist César Ramírez Guendüláin was murdered in the Santa Lucía del Camino municipality

The next day, Ignacio García Maldonado, former member of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) and ex-political prisoner, was murdered in Oaxaca City together with his friend Emanuel López Martínez. Furthermore, in the community of San Miguel Soyaltepec, six people were shot, and Eliserio Valencia García was executed in Santa Cruz Loxicha, being the brother of the mayor of San Agustín Loxicha.

On 11 April, two teachers from Section 22 of the National Union of Educational Workers (SNTE-CNTE) together with their 7-year old child in Pochutla. The previous day, there was a report of the murder of the leader of the Freedom Union, Germán Hernández Juárez, in Trinidad de Viguera.

Lastly, on 12 April, six people were murdered, two of them minors, by a commando group in the municipality of Huajuapan de León in the Mixteca region, and the next day, Eduardo Vásquez Ramírez, Secretary of the Committee of Vigilance of the Commissioner’s Group for Communal Goods from Santa María Petapa, was killed in the Matías Romero municipality in the Tehuantepec Isthmus.

With reference to the political crimes, the Oaxacan group Services for an Alternative Education (EDUCA) has expressed that “this context places us close to the risk that violence will take over all institutions and the administration of justice, beyond encouraging society in general to express its differences by means of bullets rather than reason […]. We are sure that only justice and not impunity can be the public action that marks the path toward the restitution of faith and credibility in the institutions […]. Violence without a doubt puts at risk the transition and the political changes demanded by Oaxacan society. It is necessary to recover our faith in the institutions, as it is necessary to recover our faith in ourselves.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Asesinan en Oaxaca a 2 maestros y su hijo de 7 años; suman 4 crímenes en 24 horas (E-Oaxaca, 13 de abril de 2014)

Asesinan a secretario de Vigilancia del Comisariado de Bienes Comunales de Petapa (Página 3, 13 de abril de 2014)

Investigan asesinato de seis personas por comando armado en Huajuapan (Noticias, 13 de abril de 2014)

Asesinan a líder del sindicato Libertad en Oaxaca (Proceso, 11 de abril de 2014)

La violencia pone en riesgo la transición en Oaxaca: EDUCA (EDUCA, 01 de abril de 2014)

De nuevo, Oaxaca: amenazas y ejecuciones (La Jornada, 31 de marzo de 2014)

Asesinan a dos colaboradores del ex líder de la APPO Flavio Sosa (La Jornada, 30 de marzo de 2014)

Ejecutan a hermano del alcalde de Loxicha, Oaxaca (Proceso, 30 de marzo de 2014)

12 ejecuciones en 48 horas encienden focos rojos en Oaxaca (Página 3, 30 de marzo de 2014)

“El mensaje es claro: estamos en la mira y el centro del asunto es 2006“: Comuna Oaxaca (Página 3, 30 de marzo de 2014)

Ejecutan a empresario (Noticias, 29 de marzo de 2014)