Guerrero: Indigenous Families in La Montaña Most Affected by Earthquake – Government Support Urged 

@ Tlachinollan

Following the earthquake in Acapulco on September 7th, La Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center reported on the damage left in the indigenous communities of La Montaña, where many Me’phaa, Na savi and Nahuas families live and that “they were the most affected.”

Cracked and collapsed walls, as well as the total loss of adobe houses, forced some families to improvise a place to live. Some even had to sleep outside. In Metlatonoc, one of the poorest municipalities in the country, some families have reported that the roofs of several houses fell and some rooms that were already damaged collapsed.

A Nahua woman commented that her house is about to fall, which is why she is distressed: “now I don’t know how I’m going to do it, I’m scared because with the rain it could fall completely”, she said.

It is also the case of Don Leocadio Ortega from the Me’phaa community of Monte Alegre, Malinaltepec municipality and father of Mauricio Ortega Valerio, one of the 43 disappeared students from Ayotzinapa who was able to arrive at the offices of the Center to report that his adobe home was damaged when one of the walls fell, exposing the room where he slept and which he was fortunately able to get out of. “In addition to the complications of his health, the affectation of his home accumulates, in a struggle of almost seven years to find his son Mauricio. He has had to go down to Tlapa to sell his coffee, in the absence of a secure income”, Tlachinollan reported.

Tlachinollan said that the presence of civil protection authorities is urgent to assess the damage, but above all to meet the most urgent needs of the affected indigenous families. They denounced that the municipal and state authorities “are not responding to this emergency, on the pretext that they no longer have the resources to provide the support demanded by the affected families.” That is why he requested the presence of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) to request funds to cover the emergency.

“The situation of the indigenous communities of La Montaña is deplorable, due to the accumulation of so many tragedies and damages caused by the anger of Mother Earth. That is why the clamor of the peoples continues to demand the presence of the Federal Authorities and effective support in the face of the devastation of their homes”, the Center said.

For more information in Spanish:

Las grietas de la Montaña (Tlachinollan, 8 de septiembre de 2021)

Reportan daños por sismo en la Montaña de Guerrero (La Jornada, 9 de septiembre de 2021)

Reportan casas caídas y con daños en 8 comunidades de La Montaña(Quadratin Guerrero, 8 de septiembre de 2021)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Approval Sought for Constitutional Reform on Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Matters (August 16, 2021)

Guerrero: Tlachinollan Launches “Sea of Grievances, Mountain of Ruptures” Campaign (April 25, 2021)

GUERRERO: “Como una noche sin estrellas”. Presentación del XXVI Informe de Tlachinollan (December 8, 2020)

Oaxaca/National: 7.5 Earthquake in State Ravaged by Pandemic (June 24, 2020)