Catholic Church and organizations march against violence in Chiapas

In a statement, the Catholic Church in Chiapas said the main objective of the demonstration was to give voice to the victims and to the families who have been forced to move to other parts of the country and have even had to migrate to Guatemala due to the level of violence in the state.

Religious leaders recalled the massacres that have occurred in recent months, which were initially reported in municipalities bordering Guatemala, such as Frontera Comalapa and Chicomuselo, but have gradually spread to Bella Vista, Siltepec, Amatenango de la Frontera, El Porvenir, La Grandeza, Bejucal de Ocampo, Motozintla, Angel Albino Corzo, La Concordia, Vila Corzo, Villaflores, La Trinitaria, Las Margaritas, Maravilla Tenejapa, Benemérito, Frontera Corozal and Palestina in the municipality of Ocosingo, Tila, Altamirano, Oxchuc, Pantelho and Chenalho.

“(The violence) has worsened, it manifests itself in constant confrontations and people live in terror. They are often silenced, minimized and ignored by those who have the power to act to prevent this suffering,” the statement reads.

The Ecclesiastical Province of Chiapas stressed that one cause of this violence is the interests that drive the construction of an infrastructure to dispossess the natural resources and services of the state’s indigenous peoples, in addition to the various activities of organized crime such as human and drug trafficking in the border region.

He therefore called on state and federal authorities to recognise that there is a forced displacement of people, as well as extortion of the population, mainly indigenous.

“Stop this system of death! History will judge you for your indolence, for your inability to protect the lives of the innocent! You will be remembered by the poor people as part of their executioners!” the Church said.