The events took place between Saturday and Sunday in Villa Corzo, Mapastepec and San Cristóbal de Las Casas. In addition, last Thursday’s aggression against a candidate in La Concordia, where 8 people lost their lives in the context of political-electoral violence.
The attacks were against the MORENA candidate for the municipal presidency of Villa Corzo, against the campaign team of the MORENA candidate for municipal president of Mapastepec, and against the PVEM candidate for the presidency of San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
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The first event took place on Saturday afternoon in the municipality of Villa Corzo, located in the central zone of the state of Chiapas, where a group of armed men attacked the MORENA presidential candidate, Robertony Orozco Aguilar.
According to reports from the prosecutor’s office, three people lost their lives, while the candidate and his collaborators were wounded.
The ambush took place when the candidate was returning from an event, and at the Villa Corzo-San Pedro Buenavista highway stretch, Mexican army personnel and police officers were on the scene.
Robertony Orozco Aguilar was mayor of Villa Corzo in the period 2021-2024 for the PVEM, now he is seeking reelection for MORENA. There, on April 16, one of the city council members, José Margay Coutiño López, was murdered at the door of his home.
Villa Corzo is part of the central corridors used by drug cartels for drug and migrant trafficking, bordering the municipality of La Concordia.
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On Saturday night, the PVEM candidate for the presidency of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Linda Higuera, was attacked by armed men. She was in an armored van, so no one was injured.
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The third attack was against the campaign team of the MORENA candidate in Mapastepec, Nicolas Noriega Zavala. Five of his collaborators were killed. The events took place around 1:45 a.m., when the team was returning from the Ibarra ejido to the municipal capital in a pick-up truck.
The candidate had sponsored a dance, a group of his collaborators were returning when they were ambushed by armed persons.
José del Carmen Lorenza Vázquez, 51 years old; Sami Daniel Aguilar Reyes, 25 years old; Emmanuel Díaz Román, 22 years old; Anayeli Vázquez López, candidate for alternate councilwoman, 34 years old; Karina Cruz Montes, 40 years old, wife of the candidate for councilwoman; and José Antonio Ortiz de la Rosa, 44 years old, were killed. Two people were injured.
Mapastepec is a municipality in the coastal region of Chiapas, located in a corridor of migrant and drug trafficking.
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In addition to these events, the candidate for municipal president of La Concordia, Lucero López, was murdered last Thursday. In this case, she and her sister lost their lives, as well as three other people in the place; and two more in the hospital as a result of the wounds.
In total, with these attacks, 17 people have died, nine this weekend and eight from Thursday’s events.
This article by Ángeles Máriscal was published in Chiapas Paralelo on May 19th, 2024.
English translation by Schools for Chiapas.
Mass resignation of candidates in Chiapas
As of May 20th, 550 candidates in Chiapas have left now the race, with only two weeks to go before Election Day. While this report originally noted 213, in the subsequent two days, another 300 have dropped their canidacy.
According to the records of the Institute of Elections and Citizen Participation (IEPC) of the state of Chiapas, only two weeks before the elections, 120 women and 93 men have withdrawn as candidates for municipal and congressional offices. Massive resignations stand out in areas affected by organized crime.
For example, in the municipality of El Porvenir, located in the sierra-border zone, the entire Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) slate for municipal president, trustee and councilmen resigned. The slate was headed by Neyman Romas Roblero Mejia, who together with ten other people left the race, without specifying the reasons.
The same was done by the candidates of the Popular Chiapaneco Party in the same municipality of El Porvenir. The candidates of the local party Encuentro Solidario Chiapas in the municipality of Mezcalapa also resigned.
The candidates of the Chiapas United Party in the municipalities of Mazapa de Madero and Ocozocuautla, the latter affected by the violence of organized crime, resigned in their entirety.
The Labor Party (PT) and the Ecologist Green Party (PVEM) also faced massive resignations of their candidates in deputies, and in municipalities of the indigenous zone of Los Altos, the jungle, and the coast.
On the part of Morena, Eddy Ricardo Vazquez López, candidate for the municipal presidency of Mazapa de Madero, left the candidacy; there are massive resignations of candidates of that party in Cintalapa and La Concordia, where there have been confrontations between members of organized crime.
Just this week the four bishops of Chiapas made a statement in which they point out that “there are no conditions for voting in regions of Chiapas affected by violence,” particularly that which is generated by organized crime, which is impacting the geography of Chiapas.
The religious leaders said that among the candidates, “we do not find concrete proposals to respond to this reality that we are living,” they said. They also spoke about the situation of “corruption at all levels of government” and widespread poverty.
Just last Thursday the candidate for the municipal presidency of La Concordia, Lucero López, of the Popular Party of Chiapas, was assassinated. There are missing candidates, as in the case of Frontera Comalapa; and attacks in which relatives of candidates have been killed, as in Benemérito de Las Américas.
In Chiapas there will be elections for the 123 city councils, 40 local representatives and the governor’s office.
Original article by Ángeles Máriscal was published by Chiapas Paralelo on May 18th, 2024
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.