Chiapas: Demands for Arrests of Los Herrera Group in Pantelho

@Proceso

In a joint statement published on July 12th, the 87 rural agents of the 2023 administration and 14 presidents of Pantelho ejidos, asked the state authorities to “execute the arrest warrant against Jose Guadalupe Herrera Abarca and others”, allies who, they claim, have murdered at least five people in the last four months. They asked for this, “so that we can be calm in the municipality, without living with the anxiety that at any moment the hitmen commanded by the Herreras will take control again.”

They detailed the facts related to the murders and indicated that “people do not trust the Government, for this reason they do not make their corresponding complaint about the events that arise in the municipality.”

They reported that in an assembly held on July 6th in the Roblar Chixtontik Ejido, “we agreed that if the federal and state governments do not take action on the matter, the people will rise up in arms again to do justice on our own.”

They pointed out that another leader of the Los Herrera group is Jhovany Gamaliel Aguilar Moreno “since he is inciting violence by asking for the return of the relatives of the 18 disappeared, who are from the Herrera criminal group, which means that it is a act of provocation.” They affirmed that the relatives of the disappeared “enjoy privileges from the State Government… consisting of monthly payment of rents, groceries and cash, when the families of the indigenous people who died at the hands of Los Herrera have not received any financial support, nor has justice been sought for the approximately 200 homicides committed against the indigenous people” of Pantelho.

They also denounced that the Los Herrera group “allied with the armed group called Los Ciriles and that they belong to the Tzanenbolom community, Chenalho municipality. This alliance is in order to destabilize the municipality and thus be able to remove the Municipal Council in office.”

They held the state and federal governments responsible for what could happen in Pantelho if they do not act, claiming that the authorities are minimizing what is happening and that “throughout history they have treated us as third-class people and have also considered us as indigenous people that we are not worth anything.”

For more information in Spanish:

Líderes de Pantelhó advierten al gobierno: desmantela a Los Herrera o se levantan en armas (Proceso, 12 de julio de 2023)

Advierten líderes de 86 comunidades de Pantelhó: se alzarán en armas sino desarticula gobierno a grupo armado de Los Herrera (Chiapas Paralelo, 12 de julio de 2023)

Demandan en Pantelhó que ejecuten orden de aprehensión contra Herrera Abarca (La Jornada, 12 de julio de 2023)

For more information from SIPAZ: