Mexico City | Desinformémonos. Carlos González García is a member of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), a lawyer specializing in agrarian law, and, above all, a defender of indigenous territories and a supporter of communities in resistance. In an interview with Desinformémonos, he deconstructs the current criminal onslaught against indigenous peoples. He discusses the recent attacks in Guerrero and Michoacán, and the macroeconomic interests behind them. He warns that the United States’ hostility toward the peoples of the world is accelerating this war. And he envisions three scenarios: that the state protects the communities and dismantles the criminal groups; that the communities are massacred; or that the communities rise up.
Below is the full interview.
– In recent times, but most visibly in the last few weeks, various attacks on indigenous communities in Mexico have increased and intensified. To what do you attribute this? In what context are they occurring?
The attacks on communities in recent weeks have been extremely brutal, in some cases unprecedented. We have the specific case of the indigenous communities in the municipality of Chilapa, which are part of the Indigenous and Popular Council of Guerrero – Emiliano Zapata (CIPOG-EZ) and the Regional Coordination of Community Authorities – Community Police of the Founding Peoples, which have not aligned themselves with the Los Ardillos cartel or any other cartel previously. And also toward the communities in the municipalities of Atlixtac and Olinalá.
There is widespread warfare in the Lower and Upper Mountain regions of Guerrero, targeting communities that have refused to be controlled by organized crime. Alongside these attacks are those taking place in Michoacán. In the community of Santa María Ostula, there have also been very severe, excessively violent attacks in recent days. A group of approximately 50 hitmen, apparently mostly Colombians, who claim to be members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, carried out a raid.
As on other occasions, this attack came from the direction of Cofradía de Ostula, which is in the northern part, furthest from the coast. The attackers arrive from the Colima side, through the municipalities of Chinicuila and Coalcomán, which are controlled by the cartel.
In addition to these attacks, there have been others in Purépecha communities in the Cañada and the Sierra regions, specifically in Acachuén and the Cañada de los Once Pueblos. The municipal police have colluded with the hitmen and are protecting them. Another brutal attack targeted the community of Santa María Sevina, in the municipality of Nahuatzen; here, too, there are reports of the presence of hitmen of Colombian origin. There, two members of the Community Patrol were murdered.
In addition, there have been other skirmishes and crossfire in other parts of the plateau and in other parts of Guerrero, where mutilated bodies and executed individuals have been found. I believe these have been the most vicious attacks against indigenous communities, but they are not the only ones, and they are not all of the same nature. There is severe harassment of communities in other regions of the country.
– What are the interests behind these attacks?
This wave of such violent attacks is due to economic interests external to the communities, primarily mining. In the case of the Montaña region of Guerrero, there are significant deposits of gold and other minerals, and there are currently mining projects underway, such as the Media Luna project. There are 24 mining concessions between the Montaña and the Costa Chica regions of Guerrero. We believe this is a key factor driving the attacks, because the goal is to displace communities from their territories so that these areas can be reoccupied and reorganized.
In the cases of Guerrero, Michoacán, and Chiapas, we see this kind of process unfolding. In Ostula, this has not been possible, even though they have been trying for years—and more violently since 2024—because the Community Guard has managed to hold its ground in the upper part of the town. However, they are doing something that should be the responsibility of the Mexican government: dismantling these cartels and protecting the civilian population.
In Ostula and throughout the region, we face the same situation: massive mining and real estate interests. In the case of the Purépecha Plateau, there are also significant interests, such as timber and avocados. In all the communities where these attacks and violent processes occur, and where the presence of criminal cartels is nearly unstoppable, there are natural resources, disputed territories, and projects seeking to establish themselves.
– There are also attacks on communities that aren’t necessarily armed
Indeed, not everywhere sees attacks involving drones, explosives, or those that cause mass displacement of populations, but there are certainly instances of harassment and repression. This is the case with the garbage collectors in the state of Puebla, the water disputes in Querétaro, and in the central part of the country—it’s a widespread phenomenon.
– In the regions you mention, communities have been organized for decades
For us, it is no coincidence that communities that have historically resisted are being attacked. Most of the communities under attack have community security systems, community guards, police, and neighborhood watch groups. This means that when attacks occur, there will be a reaction, a response, and we believe that is what is being sought: to exacerbate conditions of violence and instability in the country’s indigenous regions. Furthermore, we believe that U.S. security and intelligence agencies are the ones behind this.
It is striking how, in recent weeks, these attacks have intensified and become extremely violent. The way the communities of Xicotlán, Tula, Acahuehuetlán, and Alcozacán were attacked—with drones and bombs—while not the first such attacks (those occurred in Ostula in 2024), we believe these are the most violent.
The community of Tula has been virtually destroyed. Its homes have been destroyed and burned, and the town is completely deserted. This is something that hasn’t been seen in the Montaña region or in indigenous regions for quite some time, at least in the central and southern parts of the country.
– What is the role of the state in this situation? Negligence? Complicity? A hands-off approach?
Those involved in this complicity and these omissions include various institutions and officials, to varying degrees. We must speak of individuals—officials who are integrated into and form part of organized crime. This is what the people say in the regions where these officials govern. In Guerrero, complicity is very strong; there are several municipalities in the central region and the Montaña that are governed by mayors imposed by Los Ardillos.
Particularly emblematic is the case of Mercedes Carballo Chino, the mayor of Chilapa, who is the sister-in-law of Celso Ortega, the “Ardillo Mayor,” the cartel’s leader. Or there is the case of her nephew, who is a state congressman, or her brother Jaime, who is a leader of the PRD and has served as president of the state legislature, the local Congress, and has been mayor twice and a state congressman twice.
There is widespread speculation in the state about the possible ties between Félix Salgado Macedonio, the governor’s father, and organized crime. Since he served as mayor of Acapulco, organized crime has skyrocketed, and the Beltrán Leyva cartel—which is now fragmented into multiple factions—has come to dominate the region.
Guerrero is the state with the highest level of fragmentation and the greatest presence of criminal cartels. The DEA reports that there are 14 cartels and more than 400 cells operating across all regions of the state. But Michoacán is not far behind, not to mention the violence suffered by San Lorenzo Azqueltán or the widespread criminal presence in the Sierra Wixárika. In the case of Michoacán, there is also talk of the complicity of mayors, and of the governor and his family being linked to the Jalisco Cartel.
We have this first element of complicity, collusion, and infiltration within the institutions of the Mexican state. It is no coincidence to us that on May 6, the army and the National Guard withdrew from the three inter-agency operational bases they had near Tula, and from that day on, attacks by Los Ardillos using drones and high-powered weapons began.
From our perspective, this is inexplicable, and we believe it needs to be investigated. We need to find out why they withdrew, who ordered it, and which commanders were involved.
We are talking about a shared identity among criminals and government officials. In a second scenario, we are talking about the infiltration of institutions, and finally, moving from the most complex to the least, we have the case of inaction. Why did it take the federal military and security forces so many days to enter the bombed communities? Why did they do so by saying they were going to negotiate with the criminals instead of immediately entering to protect the populations and dismantle the Los Ardillos cartel?
The pressure we applied was immense. National and international society exerted significant pressure, as did the media and social media. All of this forced the Office of the President to make decisions and send high-level officials to the affected region and provide a security presence on the ground, which is insufficient. The Observation Mission had been promised an escort but was not provided one until it arrived in Alcozacán.
– It’s not just in Mexico that indigenous peoples are under attack. It seems there’s a global strategy…
The long-standing processes of dispossession—which have intensified in recent years and months and constitute what we have called a war—intersect with the virulence with which the United States, its leaders, and its president are acting around the world, in Latin America, and in Mexico, following that same logic. This is not a separate chapter in the war of conquest; it is the most brutal and most recent chapter. It is the United States’ virulence toward the peoples of the world that is accelerating this war.
– Given this complex and alarming situation, what scenario do you foresee?
There are three possibilities. The first, which is what we hope for, is that the state will act and provide support to the attacked communities in the way they propose, because often the support they provide is invasive; they arrive in the towns, occupy public spaces, and become a new factor in population displacement rather than a source of support. What all the affected communities are asking for is the establishment of inter-institutional operational bases at specific locations within the affected areas.
Since February 2024, Ostula has been pushing for the establishment of a base in a town in Chinicuila—not within the communal territory, but in an area that is effectively a ghost town because its population was displaced several years ago due to criminal activity. From there, it is possible to block the entry of armed criminal groups into the Nahua coast of Michoacán.
In the case of Guerrero, and specifically CIPOG-EZ, there are calls for the establishment of three operational bases at three specific locations: the Jagüey intersection, the cemetery located across from the town of Tula, and the entrance to Joaquín Herrera. Now, with Sunday’s latest statement, they have increased this to five bases, and the situation is the same for Sevina. Santa María Sevina has long demanded the establishment of an operational base at a location they deem appropriate.
The other two scenarios are the massacre of the populations, or their uprising. If no guarantees are given to the communities for the protection of life, physical integrity, and fundamental rights, this is the path left for them. These are two options, both very terrible and likely to result in loss of life, suffering, and further displacement, but they could happen.
We don’t want them to happen; we don’t want it to come to that, because they could fuel the intensified offensive launched by the U.S. government and its national security and intelligence agencies around the world, in the Americas, and in our country.
Mexico is facing a threatening situation, just like Gaza, just like the threats against Cuba. And we discuss each one in terms of its specific context and scale, but not to downplay what is happening here. We say that Iran is at war, that Gaza is being massacred, that the Middle East is a war zone; sometimes we talk about Colombia, but Mexico is in a very violent war that is causing a large number of people to go missing, a number that grows day by day, with no solution from the state, and with a considerable number of intentional homicides among the civilian population. Criminal cartels control a large part of the country; the political class is colluding with criminals; a large number of municipalities are controlled by the cartels. We are in a situation no different from that experienced in other countries at war.
Communities are desperately pleading to be heard, to be taken seriously, and for the government to take action to dismantle the cartels and punish those who must be punished, protect civilian populations, and ensure the proper functioning of community police forces.
Original interview and text by Gloria Muñoz Ramirez published in Desinformémonos on May 28th 2026.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.