In 1997 the area saw the killing of 45 Indigenous people by paramilitaries, including pregnant women and children, in the Acteal community in Chiapas, Mexico. | Photo: Reuters |
For
decades Oxchuc in the Mexican state of Chiapas has been the epicenter
of a land conflict where paramilitares attack local Indigenous
communities.
At least three people
were killed in the local Indigenous community of Oxchuc, in the Mexican
state of Chiapas, after clashes broke out between supporters of the
town’s mayor MarÃa Gloria Sanchez Gomez and supporters of former mayor
Oscar Gomez Lopez, government officials and locals said Thursday.
The state prosecutor's office said in a statement that the clashes
took place Wednesday and injured at least 14 people, the Associated
Press reported Thursday, while the local Human Rights Center Fray
Bartolome de las Casas, known as Frayba, put the number of those injured
at 17
The violence in the
area is nothing new as various social organizations as well as the local
church authorities have for years denounced the existence of
paramilitary armed groups.
Frayba, which promotes Indigenous human rights in Chiapas, also said that 20 people have gone missing after the clashes.
The group said
that during the clashes the municipality “had to evict girls, boys and
teachers from schools, as well as patients, medical and nursing staff
from a local hospital, which indicates a situation that violates the
security and integrity of women, girls and children” in the local
Indigenous community.
The clashes seemed to
have continued through Thursday, according to Frayba, which added that
residents suggested that the armed groups were not locals, heavily armed
and trained. No police or government forces were present at the scene
at the time of the clashes.
While the state government later said that its forces had secured the
area, the villagers warmed that in the next few days the town will be
“invaded by an armed civilian group, and the women and children will be
terrified," according to the human rights group.
Oxchuc is the scene
of post-electoral conflicts since 2015 between the current mayor, a
member of a political party, and elected Indigenous leaders through the
traditional methods of these communities, which is recognized by the
Mexican state.
The area has always
been at the center of a land conflict between the local Indigenous
community and paramilitary groups. Over the past two decades, 5,000
Indigenous people have been displaced in Oxchuc and surrounding areas.
In 1997 paramilitaries killed 45 Indigenous people, including pregnant women and children, in the nearby Acteal community.
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