On the same day of the inter-institutional launch to demonstrate security, three events demonstrated the armed violence present in various areas of the state; which resulted in a day of three homicides and one uniformed officer injured.
This Monday, a thousand troops belonging to the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), the National Guard (GN) and the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection of the State (SSyPC) began the Deployment of Forces in Support of “Operation Safe Chiapas”.
The “Operation” headed by Governor Rutilio Escandón Cadenas, the Secretary of Security, Gabriela Zepeda Soto and military authorities, assured that: “the collaboration between authorities of the three levels of government has been consolidated to carry out strategic actions that ensure the well-being of the population of Chiapas.”
“Through “Operation Safe Chiapas”, we seek not only to combat crime, but also to generate an environment of trust and tranquility in the population,” said the SSyPC.
Therefore, an active presence of security forces in the communities is expected to generate an environment of trust and collaboration between the population and the authorities.
However, the start of said operation was overshadowed by the acts of violence that occurred consecutively in a few hours.
In the morning, the State Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSyPC) paid a posthumous tribute to members Edgar Rivera López and Héctor Manuel de la Cruz Macal, murdered with firearms in the performance of their duties this Monday.
Hours later, Julián Bautista Gómez, former mayor of Amatenango del Valle, who was seeking re-election, was murdered with a firearm. The victim lost his life after an armed group ambushed him while he was in a vehicle.
The former mayor was on the “El Carmelita” cruise boat in the municipality of Amatenango, heading to his activities when a group of armed people aboard a motorcycle attacked him.
Hours later, members of the National Guard were injured after a confrontation with members of organized crime in the Ocozocoutla-Tuxtla Gutiérrez stretch. The injured had to be transferred to the “Gilberto de Jesús Gómez Maza” Hospital by helicopter.
Original article in Chiapas Paralelo, April 9th, 2024.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.