Hundreds mourn Catholic priest and Indigenous peace activist killed in southern Mexico

RAÚL VERA and ISABEL MATEOS
Mon, October 21, 2024




People carry the coffin of slain Catholic priest and activist Marcelo Pérez prior to a mass at the main plaza in San Andrés Larráinzar, Chiapas state, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

SAN ANDRES LARRAINZAR, Mexico (AP) — Hundreds gathered Monday to mourn Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers who was killed in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas.

It was a killing that many say was a tragedy foretold, in a state where drug cartels have caused thousands of people to flee their homes.

Mourners gathered in San Andres Larrainzar, near the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, where Pérez was killed on Sunday.


Pérez, a leading activist for peace in the violence-torn state, was from San Andrés Larrainzar. A mass in his honor Monday was held in Spanish and Tzotzil, the Indigenous language he spoke.

Pérez, 50, had often received threats, but nonetheless continued to work as a peace activist. Human rights advocates said Pérez did not receive the government protection he needed.

“For years, we insisted that the Mexican government should address the threats and aggressions against him, but they never implemented measures to guarantee his life, security and well-being,” The Fray Bartolome de las Casas human rights center wrote.

While there was no immediate information on the killers — President Claudia Sheinbaum only said that “investigations are being carried out” — Rev. Pérez's peace and mediation efforts may have angered one of the two drug cartels that are currently fighting for control of Chiapas.

The state is a lucrative route for smuggling both drugs and migrants.

“Father Marcelo Pérez was the subject of constant threats and aggressions on the part of organized crime groups,” according to the rights center, adding that his killing “occurred in the context of a serious escalation of violence against the public in all the regions of Chiapas.”

For at least the last two years, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have been engaged in bloody turf battles that involve killing whole families, and forcing villagers to take sides in the dispute. Hundreds of Chiapas residents have had to flee to neighboring Guatemala for their own safety.

“They should look for an intelligent way to disarm those groups,” said Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, who once served as the bishop for the area. “They shouldn't wait for people to file complaints, and people are going to file complaints because their lives are at risk.”

Together with continued drug violence in the northern state of Sinaloa, and the army killings of six migrants earlier this month, the killing of Pérez was another embarrassment for the government.

Sheinbaum took office Oct. 1 and has pledged to follow the policy of her predecessor and mentor, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of not confronting the drug cartels. The policy has failed to significantly reduce violence.

“This is a reflection of the whole country,” Cardinal Arizmendi said following the mass for Pérez. “They shouldn't say everything is fine in Mexico. Please.” he continued. “This strategy has not worked.”

The state prosecutors’ office said Rev. Pérez was shot dead by two gunmen when he was in his van, just after he had finished celebrating Mass.

He served in the community for two decades and was known as a negotiator in conflicts in a mountainous region of Chiapas where crime, violence and land disputes are rife. Pérez also led several marches against violence, which has brought him several death threats.

The U.N. Human Rights Office said Pérez was the seventh human rights activist killed in Mexico so far in 2024.

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Mexican priest who spoke out against cartel violence killed

Vanessa Buschschlüter - BBC News
Mon, October 21, 2024 

The murder of Father Marcelo Pérez has caused outrage in Chiapas [Reuters]


Gunmen in Mexico have shot dead a Catholic priest who was an outspoken advocate for indigenous rights and who had condemned the violence plaguing his community.

Father Marcelo Pérez was killed after celebrating Mass in the southern state of Chiapas on Sunday, the prosecutor's office said.

The Jesuit priest had spent almost two decades fighting for the rights of the Tzotzil indigenous group, of which he was a member.

The Jesuit Order said his murder should not be "minimised" as an isolated case - insisting it was part of the wave of violence that organised crime groups have unleashed in Chiapas.

"Father Marcelo has been a symbol of resistance and support in Chiapas, defencing the dignity, the rights of the people, and the construction of an authentic peace," the Jesuit Order said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said his murder was being investigated and would not go unpunished.

Mexico's bishops' conference described Father Marcelo as one of the "prophetic voices" that had fought for peace, and said justice in Chiapas had been silenced.

There were emotional scenes at the wake for the popular priest [AFP]

The priest was killed by two men on a motorcycle, who opened fire on his vehicle in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas.

The incident happened early on Sunday as Father Marcelo was returning to his parish after saying Mass in the Cuxtitali neighbourhood of the city.

He had been transferred to San Cristóbal de Las Casas after receiving death threats in the rural parish where he had previously worked.

The priest had tried to negotiate an end to the violence caused by clashes between a criminal gang and a vigilante group.

In an interview last month, he had described the southern state of Chiapas as "a time bomb".

"There are many [people who have] disappeared, many who have been kidnapped, many who have been murdered because of the presence of organised crime here," he said as he was leading a protest march he described as a "pilgrimage".

Chiapas has seen a spike in violence over the past year, with the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel fighting for control of the area.

The criminal groups extort migrants who cross the southern state on their way north to Mexico's border with the United States.

Communities in the region have been hard hit by the violence, sometimes having to hide in their homes for days as shots ring out outside.

But the targeted murder of an outspoken human rights advocate is seen as a dangerous escalation of the violence that has been plaguing the community for months.