Mica for cartelinsider.com
Due to the war between the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in the Sierra Mariscal region of Chiapas, dozens of people are reported missing, according to the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Center for Human Rights (Frayba).
According to the Frayba director, Dora Roblero García, these are residents from more than 30 communities in the eight municipalities in the region located on the border between Chiapas and Guatemala, one of the regions hardest hit by drug trafficking in recent months.
“It is not possible to determine how many people are missing,” emphasized Roblero García, while also mentioning that he is in contact with dozens of displaced families from municipalities such as Chicomuselo, Bella Vista, and Frentera Comalapa.
It is worth noting that out of the 114,394 missing and unlocated individuals in the country, 1,086 reports were filed with the authorities in Chiapas. Although it is not among the states with the highest number of cases, activists and human rights defenders are concerned about the wave of violence caused by the dispute over control of the territory between the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG.
Just one week ago, videos were spread of a convoy of the Sinaloa Cartel crossing the mountainous region between Chicomuselo and Bella Vista, to the applause of the population who came out to welcome them. “Let’s go to the border (Comalapa),” shouted one of the men in service of the cartel.
While activists pointed out the disappearance of dozens of people in recent months, relatives of missing individuals from all over the country arrived in Tapachula, Chiapas, to search for loved ones of whom, in some cases, they have not had news for more than 10 years.
Most of the relatives who are waiting to hear news about the missing are women and they assured that they traveled from Tamaulipas to the southern border with the hope of obtaining information that leads to the whereabouts of at least one of the thousands of disappeared in the country.
The group that traveled from Tamaulipas is composed of 30 families who are searching for their missing loved ones, so they travel through the streets, hospitals, prosecutors’ offices, and morgues where they might find information about their children, siblings, and spouses.
We must also point out that at least three thousand people from municipalities such as Chicomuselo, Villa Flores, Frontera Comalapa, Candelaria and San Juan las Pilas decided to leave their homes for safety due to the violence caused by drug trafficking.
The majority of forced displacements occurred in May of last year due to assassinations, kidnappings, extortion, and threats from organized crime for residents to join them in their war against other criminal groups and the federal government.
It is worth remembering that drug cartels are conducting “censuses” of families in Chiapas to gather information on the number, gender, and ages of each member, in order to know who can join the ranks of organized crime, as reported by journalist Ángeles Mariscal.
The inhabitants of the region emphasized that they are threatened to serve as “hawks” and “cannon fodder” in roadblocks to prevent the passage of the Armed Forces and other criminal groups in the region.
This became evident when a video was released this week showing villagers from Nueva América, Chicomuselo, blocking the passage and confronting military sent by the federal government to address the violence unleashed by the war between the two main cartels of drug trafficking in the country.
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Mica
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