AMLO asks ‘older people’ to speak with young people over drug war in Chiapas

A month after one of the largest massacres of his six-year term, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) visited La Concordia, Chiapas, the site where on June 28, 19 people became victims of the drug war for territorial control of southeastern Mexico; the national leader -whose administration will end in two months- said “he has faith that very soon this entire region will be pacified.”

AMLO’s visit to Chiapas -he was accompanied by Claudia Sheinbaum- takes place in the midst of the insecurity and humanitarian crisis that is taking place in the region, mainly caused by the clashes between the Sinaloa Cartel, the Chiapas and Guatemala Cartel (CCyG) and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG); in addition to regional conflicts between criminal groups and self-defense groups.

The president and the president-elect attended the inauguration of the La Concordia bridge, a work that had an investment of 1,187 million pesos; There, the national leader spoke about the violence in the state governed by Rutilio Escandón, but which is, in many of its regions, in the hands of criminal groups.

“I don’t like what has been happening lately. We are already intervening, we must uphold the name of the municipality. La Concordia, we must go down the path of justice for peace and tranquility.”

AMLO’s visit also coincided with a report from the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) in which it was reported on the arrest of 21 people allegedly linked to two cells of “El Güero Pulseras,” identified as the main operator of the Sinaloa Cartel (Mayo Zambada faction) in Chiapas.

File image. A woman holds a sign reading “No to violence” during a pilgrimage of displaced people from Tila, who left their town due to violence by armed groups, to demand government authorities to guarantee their safe return to their communities, in Yajalón, Chiapas state, Mexico, June 19, 2024.

File image. A woman holds a sign reading “No to violence” during a pilgrimage of displaced people from Tila, who left their town due to violence by armed groups, to demand government authorities to guarantee their safe return to their communities, in Yajalón, Chiapas state, Mexico. June 19, 2024.

“Hugs, not bullets” to pacify Chiapas

Between January and June 2024, according to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), 786 homicides were recorded in Chiapas, 357 of them classified as intentional and 250 committed with firearms; these figures are higher than those recorded in the same period of time last year: 650 homicides and 211 intentional homicides

Since AMLO’s arrival to the presidency, the first half of 2024 became the most violent, since in no year had the number of homicides exceeded 650, while intentional murders registered their highest peak in 2019 with 256 crimes.

“We have to seek the unity of our people, we older people have to talk a lot with the young people, we have to not denigrate our families and we are going to continue trying to ensure that there is well-being so that peace can be achieved, because peace is the fruit of justice. That is why I have faith that very soon this entire region will be pacified and brotherhood and harmony will return”: AMLO.

In addition to La Concordia, where an alleged dispute between the Sinaloa Cartel and the CCyG ended in the massacre of 19 people, other municipalities with high levels of violence are Chicomuselo, Jaltenango de la Paz, Nueva América, Villa Flores and Frontera Comapala, although in general the entire border between Chiapas and Guatemala is under siege by criminal groups.

According to complaints from residents, local media and civil organizations, the cartels are carrying out forced recruitment, kidnappings and murders, so more than 3,000 inhabitants have chosen to abandon their homes and flee the violence; the most recent exodus was recorded on July 23 when 400 people crossed from Amatenango, Chiapas, to Cuilco, Guatemala, to request asylum.

However, violence is widespread in the state. In Chenalhó, north of San Cristóbal de las Casas, around 800 residents decided to flee the region after several shootings and drone attacks; there is a dispute in the region between the criminal group Los Herrera and the Machete self-defense group.

Source: infobae