Emir Olivares and Alonso Urrutia
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, September 22, 2022, p. 13
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador guaranteed that the necessary protection will be provided for Oaxacan saxophonist María Elena Ríos, who three years ago was the victim of an acid attack that destroyed part of her face and body. In his press conference yesterday at the National Palace, the head of the federal Executive was asked about the artist’s complaints, who has said that they have not given her the promised protection and that the judicial process against her aggressors continues unpunished in Oaxaca, where is located.
Rosa Icela Rodríguez (Secretary of Public Security) received her, they spoke with her and they will continue to attend to her
affirmed the president.
However, he was told that Ríos – who was outside the National Palace last May demanding an audience with the President – has said that he only has protection in Oaxaca and Mexico City, but not in other parts of the country, despite noticing threats from relatives of whom he has designated as his aggressors.
It is going to happen everywhere, we see it. Here (in the mornings) the subject was discussed, I asked to be attended to and then they informed me, I received the report; and if it is not like that, today I am going to see him and they are going to look for her to help her. Yes, she is being treated, it is the information that I have, it is the information that we are going to attend to
López Obrador pointed out yesterday.
The saxophonist has announced that she has not had any encounter with Rosa Icela Rodríguez and has demanded attention from the authorities.
On September 9, 2019, a man entered the establishment where she had a travel agency in Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, and threw a bucket of sulfuric acid on her face, which left marks on her face and body.
Ríos has pointed out that Juan Vera Carrizal, a former local deputy for the PRI and currently detained gas station businessman, with whom he had a romantic relationship, was the intellectual author of this attack; in addition to his son, who is still a fugitive.
As you have posted several times the daySince then, the saxophonist has faced the challenge of rebuilding her life with not only the physical but also the emotional traces of the attack. In addition to that, she has been a victim of digital violence and even threats from relatives of her aggressors.
