On May 8th, the self-defense group “El Machete” celebrated its first anniversary. During the ceremony they mentioned that they chose that day to commemorate their anniversary because it was the date on which their compañero Enrique Perez Perez was murdered and it was for this reason that they decided to take up arms. They also remembered Simon Pedro, former president of the Abejas de Acteal, murdered in Simojovel, and all the peasant compañeros who have been and continue to be murdered in the different communities of Pantelho and other municipalities.
Due to this, they reaffirmed that they will continue to fight until they end the caciques and violence that afflict their municipality.
“We as the El Machete People’s Self-Defense Force are going to work with the people and for the people, not with the people’s caciques, we know that this country is getting worse, that’s why we are going to be here to defend the people, we salute the compañeros of Believing People, the organizations that are fighting for peace, the EZLN and also all the Self-Defense Groups in Mexico.”
Days after the celebration, on May 17th, a group of approximately 100 members of the group “El Machete” took over the facilities of the Chiapas State Congress and a small group entered to start a dialogue with the deputies to demand the dismissal of the municipal council elected in December 2021.
This is due to the fact that the current councilor president, Pedro Cortez, was retained and forced to sign his resignation after having dismissed the accountant Pedro Gomez Gomez from his position for an alleged misuse of public resources. Pedro Cortez reported that in April 2022 a request from the Superior Audit Office of the State of Chiapas arrived at the city council, he asked Pedro Gomez to clarify and verify the use of resources but he refused, so he decided to file a formal complaint and remove him from his post.
In response to this decision, he mentions that “Pedro Gomez Gomez and other people who could be accomplices or co-participants in the financial irregularities, created an adverse environment for him and the rest of the council members in the municipality” for which he asks the authorities to carry out the relevant investigations.
For more information in Spanish:
Grupo de Autodefensa El Machete celebra su primer aniversario en Pantelhó(Heraldo de Chiapas 9 de mayo de 2022)
Habitantes de Pantelhó piden reconocer a nuevas autoridades (La Jornada 17 de mayo de 2022)
Toman autodefensas Congreso de Chiapas (Diario de Chiapas 18 de mayo de 2022)
Ex subsecretario de gobierno desestabiliza Pantelhó (Chiapas Paralelo 19 de mayo de 2022)
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