Chenalhó, Chiapas, August 2026.
- Tension is running high in the Altos of Chiapas after municipal officers and members of the board of electricity from the town of Nuevo Jibeljoj 1, part of the municipality of Chenalhó, stormed the camp of the civil organization Las Abejas de Acteal to detain two of its members.
- Those detained were identified as a permanent deacon and a catechist, both affiliated with the parish of San Pedro Chenalhó.
The incident occurred while the two members of the religious and community organization were working to restore electrical service at the relocated camp, formally known as Nuevo Jibeljoj.
“The officers arrived saying we didn’t have permission to carry out this reconnection, arguing that everything must be done according to their rules, and then they took them away,” said witnesses at the camp.
They made a public request for intervention addressed to the Mayor of Chenalhó, asking him to act as a political and civil mediator; the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba), to document the case and ensure that individual rights are respected; and the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, to facilitate channels of dialogue and communication with the community.
Las Abejas Civil Society Organization of Acteal
Sacred Land of the Martyrs of Acteal
Acteal, Chenalhó, Chiapas, Mexico.
August 7, 2026
“They Violated the Rights of our Compañeros” -Public Denunciation
We are addressing the three levels of government:
To the President, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo;
To the Governor, Dr. Eduardo Ramirez Aguilar;
To the Government Delegate, Mr. Antonio Pérez Ariaz;
To the Mayor, Mr. Alberto López Gonzalez
As the civil society organization Las Abejas de Acteal, we PUBLICLY DENOUNCE THE ARBITRARY AND ILLEGAL DETENTION of our compañeros José Alfredo Jiménez Pérez and Eusebio López Guzmán, members of our organization. These events occurred today, August 7 of this year, between 7:00 and 8:30 a.m.
Those responsible for carrying out this illegal deprivation of liberty are the authorities of Centro Nuevo Yibeljoj, Officer Mariano Pérez Ruiz and his assistants, Antonio Vázquez Jiménez and Ancelmo Pérez Hernández. Nuevo Yibeljoj One, Officer Bonifacio Santiz Vazquez, with Jose Jimenez Perez as his assistant. Along with their electricity board members: Angelino Jimenez Pérez, Lisandro Pérez Gomez, and Jesus Vicente Jimenez Santiz.
These events are due to the fact that, as an organization, we decided to restore electricity service to Mr. Sebastián Jiménez Santiz—whom the residents and authorities of Centro Nuevo Yibeljoj, represented by Mr. Mariano Pérez Ruiz, acting as the agent, and in Nuevo Yibeljoj Uno, Mr. Bonifacio Santiz Vázquez, acting as the agent—and together with their respective electricity boards in both locations—had unilaterally decided to cut off that service as of June 15 of this year. It is worth mentioning that the cut-off they carried out was due to the fact that his son-in-law, who had come to care for Mr. Sebastián Jiménez after he was abandoned by his father-in-law, was sharing electricity with him.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time they have violated the rights of our fellow “abejas” from Nuevo Yibeljoj, since on October 15, 2024, they went to destroy the tent of our compañeros.
Officials from both of these communities took action.
We informed the mayor and the government delegate of today’s reconnection to ensure safety, since, from the time the power was cut off until now, we have not seen any action on the part of the authorities that has been favorable to us.
In light of these events, we hold the authorities responsible for failing to address the issue and demand the immediate release of our comrades.
SINCERELY,
La Organización Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal.
Signed by the Board of Directors:
Francisco López Santiz Juan Autreberto Pérez López
Carlos florez Gómez
Original text published at Las Abejas de Acteal on August 7th, 2026.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.