The National Committee for the Defense of the Chimalapas urged the Oaxaca State Human Rights Ombudsman (DDHPO) to grant protection measures to the communities of Chocomanatlán and Nuevo San Andrés Chimalapa, which are threatened by organized crime.
Miguel Ángel García Aguirre, regional coordinator of this human rights organization, said it is urgent to grant these measures to both communities, which belong to Santa María Chimalapas, Oaxaca.
He said that the protection measures must be effective and coordinated with the federal government and security forces such as the Secretariat of Public Protection, the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), and the National Guard.
This situation, the environmentalist said, puts families and five other villages located on the border between the two states at risk.
“I was with them all day. And now I can’t go back, because it is urgent that precautionary measures be implemented, that these people be protected, that we prevent a massacre,” he stated.
In addition to precautionary measures, García Aguirre emphasizes the urgent need for a military base to monitor the area, as community members assert that there may also be informants reporting on the situation they have been denouncing.
People are afraid; this has already been publicized. It’s a truly tense situation for families, and they don’t deserve to live in constant anxiety or fear of being forced out of their communities.
Both communities, home to approximately 900 people, are located on the border with the municipality of Cintalapa, Chiapas. At the end of last year, Cintalapa experienced violence, and its authorities were arrested for alleged ties to organized crime, leading residents to believe they now seek refuge in these territories.
Community members from both towns reported that armed civilians in luxury SUVs without license plates are threatening to kill them if they don’t sign a document ceding their land in exchange for 20,000 pesos.
Two days ago, community members circulated a message saying, “They’ve arrived, they’ve arrived,” warning of the renewed arrival of trucks carrying armed civilians.
They added that the only security provided by the Oaxaca government was a brief visit by state police officers. Despite authorities stating they had already assigned patrols, these have been rushed and have only been in place for the past three days.
Source: msn
