The campesinos were last seen on March 22 when they left the Nueva Libertad ejido, municipality of Frontera Comalapa, in the direction of Palenque, but they never reached their destination.

By: Isaín Mandujano

TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, Chiapas. (apro)

A group of seven campesinos, ejido authorities of a rural community in Frontera Comalapa, disappeared on March 22 in Chamic, in the so-called “death zone.”

Axel Yibrán Martínez Pérez, 22; Jordan Gordillo Genovez, 48; Yovani Vázquez Méndez, 43; Hernan Aguilar Morales, 57; José Marín Carbajal Ramírez, 43; Raymundo Sandoval Córdova, 51, and Luis Ambrocio González León, 53, were last seen when they left the Nueva Libertad ejido, in the municipality of Frontera Comalapa.

The seven people who make up part of the ejido authorities boarded a Dodge Ram van color red, with license plate DC3614A of the state of Chiapas; according to the search record issued this Thursday, March 23 by the State’s Attorney General (FGE, its initials in Spanish).

The document indicates that the seven people boarded a van that would take them from that community towards the municipality of Palenque, however, they never reached their destination.

Their family members suspect that civilian armed groups that dispute territory in the “death zone,” in Chamic, between Frontera Comalapa and La Trinitaria, detained and disappeared them.

Ever since July 2021, Chamic has experienced a situation of narco-violence, where many armed confrontations have been recorded, where organized crime groups set up checkpoints, murder and disappear even people who are innocent or unrelated to the conflict who cross through that territory.

The number of disappeared could reach some 100 people, residents of the region calculate unofficially.

From the community of the Sinaloa ejido alone, municipality of Frontera Comalapa, six people from six different families were disappeared from July 2021 to date, including the ejido commissioner Rolando Rodríguez Morales, and all the families had to flee or be victims of forced displacement, for fear of reprisals for demanding the appearance alive of the six men.

See also: At least 850 families displaced by narco-violence in La Trinitaria and Frontera Comalapa https://chiapas-support.org/2022/07/23/at-least-850-families-displaced-by-narco-violence-in-la-trinitaria-and-frontera-comalapa/

Originally Published in Spanish by Proceso. Friday, March 24, 2023, https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/estados/2023/3/24/desaparecen-siete-autoridades-ejidales-en-la-zona-de-la-muerte-de-chamic-en-chiapas-304209.html and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee