Residents of the Tzanembolom Fraction, allegedly belonging to the armed group Los Herrera, conditioned the departure of a group of 120 Tsotsiles who have been taking refuge in the local school for seven days due to the attacks they received, the victims reported.
According to the displaced, the followers of “Los Herrera” blocked the road to prevent the passage of ten vehicles of the State Police and two or three trucks of soldiers and the National Guard who came to rescue them and take them to a safe place.
The group of the Tzanembolom Fraction, municipality of Chenalhó, allegedly belonging to Los Herrera, confirmed that they will not allow the departure of the more than one hundred residents who are in the school until their companion Felipe Gómez Méndez, imprisoned in the El Amate prison, is released and the murderers of the leader Gilberto Pérez Gómez and several of his relatives are not arrested.
This was the second attempt by the authorities to remove the group of 120 people from Tzanembolom. On Tuesday morning, representatives of Civil Protection arrived with two vans, but the families refused to leave, arguing that there were no safe conditions unless they were accompanied by soldiers and agents of the National Guard.
In the afternoon, state police and soldiers came to take them to the municipal seat of Chenalhó, but followers of “Los Herrera” blocked their way, so the uniformed officers returned to Chenalhó.
Since last Wednesday of last week, more than one hundred residents of the community of Tzanembolom who are sheltered in an auditorium of the local primary school, fled their homes, denouncing armed attacks by “Los Herrera”.
The refugee residents are accused of being part of the self-defense group of the town El Machete, an armed group from Pantelhó that has been fighting for territory against Los Herrera for several years.
For his part, one of the leaders of the Tzanembolom Fraction group, in the municipality of Chenalhó, belonging to Los Herrera, Agustín Pérez Gómez, said that they will not allow the departure of the more than one hundred residents who are in the school until his companion Felipe Gómez Méndez, imprisoned in El Amate, is released, and the murderers of the leader Gilberto Pérez Gómez and several of his relatives are arrested.
“We will not allow it, because we are the ones affected by the shootings; we will not allow them to leave because we reached an agreement as residents of the Tzanembolom Fraction, on the two requests: that the Ruiz, Sirines and Cachetes be put in jail, and that Felipe Gómez Méndez (accused of carrying a weapon for the exclusive use of the Army) be released, who was taken to jail without having committed any crime.”
Pérez Gómez appeared covered in his face, dressed in black and wearing a hat in a video posted on social media, addressing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Governor Rutilio Escandón Cadenas and the mayor of Chenalhó, Abraham Cruz Gómez, asking them in Tsotsil to “listen to what we want to tell you.”
“Mr. President, we are sending you this audio; Governor of the state, listen to us, and if you are going to send food to the displaced, let it be to both places, both displaced from the Center and from the Tzanembolom Fraction and let it be even; if not, we will not allow any access until they resolve the two points we just mentioned.”
He explained that Los Machetes, to which the group of refugees in the school belong, “do not stop shooting on the edges of our place, it is fine, we can do everything, we are prepared, we will not say anything and we will not flee anywhere; We are going to resolve it our way with them.”
Gilberto Pérez Gómez, nicknamed El Tigre, and his family were shot dead in an ambush that left seven dead, which occurred at the beginning of June last year in the community of Polhó, municipality of Chenalhó.
The leader of the Tzanembolom Fraction, who replaced El Tigre, said that “it was the people of the self-defense group El Machete, from Pantelhó, who planned to carry out all this and what hurts us the most is that until today they have not put the murderers in jail: the Ruiz, the Sirines and the Machetes commanders; they are still there.”
Source: proceso
