Isaín Mandujano
For not joining a social organization* related to the mayor of Las Margaritas, Bladimir Hernández Álvarez, some 27 families -198 people- were expelled from the community of El Saltillo and their houses destroyed with sledgehammers last Tuesday, February 7.
The 198 people, including men, women, children and senior citizens, denounced that a group of people with firearms and machetes, as well as hammers, woke them up early last Tuesday morning and they were thrown out of their homes.
Subsequently, they proceeded to ransack the houses and destroy them with sledgehammers, until many of them were demolished. A total of 26 houses were demolished.
They fled to the municipal capital of Las Margaritas.
The reason for this attack is that they have resisted joining the Alianza de Organizaciones Sociales y Sindicatos de Izquierda (ASSI) and resigned from the Central Independiente de Obreros, Agrícolas y Campesinos-Histórica (CIOAC-H).
They pointed out that ASSI is a social organization led in the municipality by Antonio Hernández Cruz, father of the now municipal president of Las Margaritas, Bladimir Hernández Álvarez.
They indicated that for not resigning from the CIOAC-Histórica to which they belong and joining ASSI, they were expelled from their homes, which were destroyed. Among the 198 people who make up the 28 families, there are also children and elderly people with disabilities who now live in precarious conditions outside their homes.
“We are in a situation of total vulnerability because we have been left without homes, without family support, affecting families, making a total of 198 people that has lost everything, and the municipal council has not lifted a finger to contribute to the solution, and on the contrary has financed and contributed weapons, so that they can continue harming us. Therefore, we demand a prompt solution to these problems”, the victims said today.
They held the mayor Bladimir Hernández Álvarez and his father Antonio Hernández Cruz responsible for the attack in the context of the struggle for control of the territory that they have with their organization ASSI and CIOAC-Histórica.
This article was published in Chiapas Paralelo on February 9th, 2023. https://www.chiapasparalelo.com/noticias/chiapas/2023/02/acusan-a-organizacion-social-afin-al-alcalde-de-las-margaritas-de-destruir-casas-y-desplazar-a-27-familias/
English translation by Schools for Chiapas.