Father Marcelo P茅rez, an indigenous Tzotzil Maya priest with the Diocese of San Crist贸bal de las Casas, in Mexico’s conflicted southern state of Chiapas, was assassinated immediately after celebrating Mass Oct. 20. He was returning to his car from the church at the barrio of Cuxtitali in the highland city of San Crist贸bal when he was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle. Hundreds of mourners attended his funeral the following day in the village of his birth, San Andr茅s Larr谩inzar, chanting “Long live Father Marcelo, priest of the poor.” He had received threats for his outspoken opposition to the criminal organizations and paramilitary groups fueling violence in Chiapas. The murder was condemned in a statement聽by the Mexican Bishops’聽Conference, which said the act “not only deprives the community of a dedicated pastor but also silences a prophetic voice that tirelessly fought for peace with truth and justice in the region of Chiapas.”
The diocese remembered him as a “tireless apostle of peace.” At the open-air funeral in聽San Andr茅s Larrainzar,聽retired Bishop Jos茅 Ra煤l Vera L贸pez of Saltillo said: “Father Marcelo took special care of the poorest, the weakest, the most unprotected, and he protected them from abusive people, from powerful people, from people who feel they own society and the land and who do not mind harming the lives of others to enrich themselves or to acquire greater political power to get everything they want.”
Bishop Vera聽was coadjutor bishop in San Crist贸bal de las Casas when Father P茅rez entered the seminary.
P茅rez had also apparently been targeted by the authorities. In 2021, he was serving as parish priest in the village of Pantelh贸聽when 21 young people were abducted there聽by the vigilante group “El Machete.”聽According to local media, the Chiapas聽prosecutor general’s office issued an arrest warrant for P茅rez in reaction to the case, although聽it was never carried out. He was subsequently transfered to聽San Crist贸bal聽because of threats made against him in聽Pantelh贸.
One man has been arrested in the assassination of Father聽P茅rez.聽(BBC News,聽OSV News, CNA, DW)
Violence, especially targeting prominent local figures, continues to escalate in Chiapas. On聽the same day P茅rez was buried, an attempt was made on the life of the newly elected mayor of聽Chil贸n. Mario Hern谩ndez Aguilar, of the Labor Party (PT), was unharmed in the attack in the hamlet of聽Yaalton.聽(Sol de Chiapas, Cambio de Michoac谩n)
On Sept. 3, the mayor-elect of聽Frontera Comalapa, on the Guatemalan border,聽was abducted by an armed gang. The聽mayor-elect, An铆bal Roblero Castillo of the Mexican Ecological Green Party (PVEM), has not been returned. (El Universal, Mexico News Daily)
See our last report on the human rights crisis in Mexico.
Credit: Diocese of San Crist贸bal de las Casas via CNA
