Group accused of links to crime attempts to recuperate Pantelhó, Chiapas

For 6 days they have tried to ambush members of the El Machete self-defense forces. The municipal seat is partially abandoned.

By: Ángeles Mariscal

They say that they entered to liberate the people, that there are about 300 people and that they are all armed; they accuse the El Machete Self-Defense Forces of being the oppressors. In videos that were disseminated, a group of about 20 armed people is seen walking the streets of the municipal capital, and others in the central kiosk asking the population to join them.

According to testimonies of those who support this armed incursion with which they try to wrest Pantelhó from the self-defense groups, this group is headed by José Herrera, the uncle of Dayli de los Santos Herrera Gutiérrez, currently imprisoned accused of being the alleged intellectual author of the execution of the indigenous justice prosecutor, Gregorio Pérez Gómez. José is the brother of Austreberto Herrera, who was a municipal judge of Pantelhó and is also in prison for homicide.

These events come two years after the self-defense group El Machete came to light, to expel what they call “the Herrera group,” whom they accused of having links to organized crime and of having murdered and disappeared dozens of people.

The Machetes emerged on July 7, 2021, after the murder of Simón Pedro Pérez, leader of the Las Abejas de Acteal organization, which occurred two days earlier. Inhabitants of Pantelhó had asked Simón Pedro to help them with a complaint to Chiapas government authorities, to request the arrest of organized crime groups that sold weapons and drugs in the region. After Simón Pedro’s murder, they decided to take control of the municipality.

In the framework of these actions that occurred in 2021, Los Machetes arrested and disappeared 21 people, allegedly linked to organized crime, 19 according to the criminal file for these events.

Then, they formed a municipal government council that was recognized by the local Congress, and agreed to the permanent presence of elements of the Mexican Army in the municipality.

But in the two years that have passed, the dispute for control of Pantelhó has continued with ambushes against members of the self-defense groups, assassinations between the groups in conflict and, since June 30, a group of armed people allegedly under the command of José Herrera, entered the municipal capital and then left the place that is now patrolled by elements of the Mexican Army.

Most houses are closed in the municipal seat, only some shops are open.

This Wednesday, July 5, Los Machetes sent a video where they assure that they remain “with a firm step,” they denounce that the San José Tercera community, where they have one of their strongholds, was attacked.

“But we don’t respond so quickly, we don’t attack people so quickly, we always wait for the government to act … We are just on hold; If I still feel attacked, then the self-defense groups will start moving again.”

They ask in the video that the National Guard and the government act by arresting José Herrera, they warned that they will defend the town of San José Tercera and the municipal capital.

For their part, members of the Mexican Army carried out patrols and arrived at the municipal capital of Pantelhó, where they maintain a detachment.  Lieutenant Colonel Alfonso Nava Bustamante said that it is part of the operation called “Operation Union,” through which patrols are carried out in the region that includes Chenalhó and Pantelhó.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Chiapas, the families of the 21 disappeared demonstrated. They said that “the Machetes continue with their noise; They do not want to respect. People are fleeing, Pantelhó looks like a ghost town again,” they said.

Originally Published in. Spanish by Chiapas Paralelo, Thursday, July 6, 2023, https://www.chiapasparalelo.com/noticias/chiapas/2023/07/grupo-acusado-de-vinculos-con-el-crimen-intenta-recuperar-pantelho-en-chiapas/ and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee