Oaxaca: March to Demand Justice for Murder of MaryCruz Zaragoza

@Consorcio Oaxaca

On March 18th, Zapotec women and men from Santa Maria Guienagati, Tehuantepec Isthmus, Oaxaca, held a march to demand justice in the case of the murder of MaryCruz Zaragoza, whose body was found dead on March 14th. MaryCruz Zaragoza, daughter of defender Nicasio Zaragoza, had left home on March 13th and her body was found the following morning among some branches.

Some 300 people marched through the main streets of Guienagati with banners reading “Justice for Marycruz!” On reaching the municipal palace, they demanded the support of the authorities to find the person responsible. They also called on the authorities to judge from a “gender perspective” stating that it was not a homicide, but a femicide.

“We are a united and organized people and we are demanding justice that guarantees security within our communities”, said Alejandra Guadalupe Lopez Aquino, a member of the Mixe Zapotec Binni Guixhilayuu Human Rights Center.

A press conference was held, supported by the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity (Consorcio Oaxaca), the Rosario Castellanos Study Group on Women, the journalist and rights activist Soledad Jarquin Edgar, the Mixe Zapotec Binni Guixhilayuu Human Rights Center, as well as relatives and residents of the town.

“The family demands that there be justice, we want this death not to go unpunished, that the corresponding authorities do their job so that the person responsible pays for what he did”, said Rodrigo Zaragoza, brother of MaryCruz Zaragoza.

Consorcio Oaxaca condemned the murder and demanded a thorough, prompt and expeditious investigation under the protocol of femicide and also pointed to the need to guarantee the protection of her three children and her husband.

It is worth mentioning that according to the Consorcio Oaxaca registry, during the administration of Alejandro Murat Hinojosa 510 femicides have been committed, 20 have occurred in 2021, and of these, the region with the highest number of cases is the Tehuantepec Isthmus, with eight cases registered.

For more information in Spanish:

COMUNIDAD DE GUIENAGATI EXIGE JUSTICIA POR EL FEMINICIO DE MARYCRUZ (Consorcio Oaxaca, 20 de marzo de 2021)

Marchan para exigir justicia por feminicidio de Marycruz en Guienagati Oaxaca(IstmoPress, 18 de marzo de 2021)

Marchan en el Istmo para exigir que el asesinato de MaryCruz sea castigado como feminicidio (El Universal, 20 de marzo de 2021)

Investigar asesinato de Marycruz como feminicidio, exigen familiares y organizaciones (Video) (Educa Oaxaca 18 de marzo de 2021)

For more information from SIPAZ: