Quetzalcóatl Leija Herrera, a prominent Guerrero LGBT activist, was found dead near the main plaza in Chilpancingo, the state capital. He had been beaten to death, in what prosecutors call “a homophobic hate crime.”
Tens of thousands of people participated in a silent “March for Peace With Justice and Dignity” in Mexico City to call for an end to the US-backed militarization of the fight against drug trafficking.
Rescue crews recovered the last of 14 bodies from the Pozo 3 coal mine hit by a gas explosion in Mexico’s northern Coahuila state, which labor leaders charge was operating “outside of the law.”
As momentum builds for the May 8 protest against violence and impunity in Mexico, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) announced its support for the movement started by poet Javier Sicilia.
A leading Mexican feminist, Marcela Lagarde, says President Felipe Calderón’s militarization of the fight against drug trafficking has increased the level of violence against women.
As nearly 300 bodies were unearthed from clandestine graves in the northern Mexican states of Durango and Tamaulipas, human rights activists were accosted by naval troops in the military-occupied border city of Matamoros.
A report released by the government’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred) showed a widespread perception of violence and discrimination in Mexican society, especially against women.
The Mexican state of Tamaulipas has dismissed its security chief while federal police arrested 16 municipal officers in the town of San Fernando following the discovery of more than 145 bodies in mass graves over the past weeks.
William Brownfield, US assistant secretary of state for international narcotics, admitted the architects of the hemispheric drug war were wrong in assuming the problem “could be resolved quickly with an aggressive campaign.”
Thousands marched across Mexico to call for an end to drug-related violence after the slaying of the son of poet Javier Sicilia. The elder Sicilia issued a statement blasting both “politicians” and “criminals” for the atrocities.
Activists occupied the Mexican consulate in New York City to demand freedom for five indigenous Zapatista supporters in Chiapas they say were framed for defending their lands from “eco-tourism” developers.
Thousands of workers marched on the congress building in Mexico City to protest a proposed reform of the labor code they say “intends to finish off collective contracts and make the workers modern slaves.”
