Violence in the border area of the state of Chiapas has increased considerably, due to the territorial dispute between Mexican cartels, such that the Catholic Church and civil society have expressed their concern about the situation in the border municipalities and demanding that the Mexican government guarantee the human rights of the population.
Members of the Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (MODEVITE), demanded that the Federal Government address “the emergencies that our state is experiencing in the face of the domination of organized crime, who are stripping the owners of these lands of their territory, forcing them to be cannon fodder, as well as our migrant brothers, who in some way are taken advantage of to subdue the Chiapas people with excess of violence.”
In the municipality of Siltepec, they held a march this Tuesday, asking for peace and security in their territory. They stated that they were tired of the violence that has worsened due to the territorial dispute between the cartels, and they denounced confrontations, blockades, murders and disappearances.
For their part, the Dioceses of San Cristobal de Las Casas and Tapachula, through statements, expressed their concern about what is happening, “criminal groups have taken over our territory and we find ourselves in a state of siege, with social psychosis under narco blockades that use civil society as a human barrier, forcing them to be there and put at risk their lives and those of their families”, they denounced in Tapachula, while in San Cristobal, the statement “Chiapas Torn apart by Organized Crime” was issued, in which they denounced the presence of organized crime in municipalities in the border area, disappearances, murders and other human rights violations. “As a diocesan church and civil society, the social crisis, repression and the presence of criminal groups have been constantly denounced, however there was no response for the people, the silence of the authorities puts human integrity at risk and shows us a failed and overcome state and/or colluding with criminal groups, from municipal and regional prosecutors, municipal presidents, the State and Federal Government”, they stated.
Finally, they called on the international community to highlight and show solidarity against the violence in the state of Chiapas.
For more information in Spanish:
Comunicado diocesano urgente, ante la situación de violencia en Frontera. Comalapa y Chicomuselo (Frayba, 24 de septiembre de 2023)
Organizaciones y religiosos piden medidas decisivas ante violencia del crimen organizado en Chiapas (Chiapas Paralelo, 26 de septiembre de 2023)
Marchan por pacificación de Siltepec, Chiapas (La Jornada, 26 de septiembre de 2023)
For more information from SIPAZ:
Chiapas: Parishes of San Cristobal Diocese March for Truth, Justice and Peace (July 8, 2023)
Chiapas: San Cristobal Diocese Social Ministry Warns of Increased Generalized Violence in State (April 25, 2023)
Chiapas: Diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas Concerned by Increase of Narco-related Violence and Social Breakdown (April 6, 2023)
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