Violence has intensified in the state of Chiapas due to rivalries between the Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa cartels (illustrative image).
AFP
A Mexican priest, known for his commitment to the defense of human rights and his denunciation of the violence of drug traffickers, was killed on Sunday by armed individuals in the state of Chiapas, in the south-east of Mexico, announced the Prosecutor’s Office.
While he had just celebrated Sunday mass in San Cristóbal de las Casas, “two men on a motorcycle shot at his vehicle”, where “the lifeless body of the priest” Marcelo Pérez was then found, said a press release from the Local prosecutor’s office.
“So that his death does not go unpunished”
The governor of Chiapas, Rutilio Escandón, assured X that an investigation had been launched “so that his death does not go unpunished”.
The priest was particularly known for his denunciation of the growing violence in the region linked to drug trafficking.
The assassination of priest Marcelo Perez is an “absolutely unacceptable” crime and must be the subject of an “exhaustive” investigation, the Mexico office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights demanded on Sunday.
In a brief statement, Mexican President Claudia Sheibaum assured that her government had opened an investigation and was in contact with Catholic authorities. “This act of violence… not only deprives the community of a devoted priest, but also silences a prophetic voice that has fought tirelessly for peace, truth and justice in the Chiapas region,” he said. reacted the Mexican Episcopal Conference.
Intensifying violence
Violence has intensified in Chiapas state due to rivalries between the Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa cartels, Mexico’s two largest criminal gangs. At the end of May, nine people were killed in two attacks against candidates in the June 2 general elections.
In June, Mexican authorities transferred to shelters more than 4,000 people who had taken refuge in their homes after several days of violence linked to organized crime in the city of Tula, about a hundred kilometers north of La Concordia .
Claudia Sheinbaum, the president elected at the beginning of June, was briefly detained on April 21 by hooded men on a highway in this state on which she was traveling as part of her electoral campaign.
450,000 deaths since 2006
According to the Insight Crime analysis center, the conflict is over control of border towns, a key area for drug and arms trafficking as well as the passage of migrants crossing Mexico to reach the United States.
Violence linked to cartels has left some 450,000 dead and more than 100,000 missing since 2006 in Mexico, when then-president Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) launched a military offensive against drug trafficking. .
(afp)
