They demand that the government ally with citizens, and not with organized crime!

By: Elio Henríquez, Correspondent

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

Around 4,000 Catholics from the municipality of Frontera Comalapa made a pilgrimage yesterday [July 2, 2023] to ask for peace and that the security corporations not withdraw from the town. [1]

With the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in front, people began their walk at nine in the morning from the esplanade of the fair, and after touring the main streets they arrived at the Church of the Santo Niño de Atocha (Holy Child of Atocha), patron saint of that town, where a mass was celebrated.

Long live peace, long live justice, long live unity, long live the communities, long live the pilgrim Church, chanted the demonstrators, men, women and children, dressed in white clothes, carrying flags, summoned by the diocese of San Cristóbal.

We need and want there to be peace, justice and freedom, said Catholics from four of the five areas in which the parish is divided, who sang religious songs and walked accompanied by the sound of the caracol, characteristic among the native peoples.

The pact must be with citizens, not with organized crime, said participants in the mobilization, which took place without any incidents being reported. They wrote on a white blanket: Peace is the fruit of justice.

Some of the attendees commented that they are also protesting against the violence exercised by organized crime groups that dispute territory.

They recalled that at the end of May members of criminal gangs confronted each other with bullets in the town of Nueva Libertad (Lajerío), which caused more than 3,000 residents to move for a week, until the security forces entered the municipality.

They pointed out that since the entry of the security forces, days later, a certain tranquility has been maintained, so they asked that they remain.

They explained that the situation in Frontera Comalapa broke down more than two years ago, when a group of the Sinaloa cartel split and joined the Jalisco New Generation cartel, and now they dispute the territory. This struggle causes frequent clashes, disappearances and roadblocks in the section located between Frontera Comalapa and Comitán.

Until a few months ago, hostilities between the two groups and occasionally between them and security forces occurred in the town of Chamic, about 20 kilometers from the border with Guatemala, but then spread to the vicinity of the capital.

[1] Last week, another 4,000 marched for peace in Frontera Comalapa. They didn’t say who convened that march, but the total of the 2 marches is a lot for a rural municipality.

Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Monday, July 3, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/07/03/estados/029n1est and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committree