Juchitán crisis deepens after mayor’s arrest
Original reporting: El País México
What happened
El País México reported that Oaxaca’s governor would seek state congressional action after federal forces arrested Juchitán’s mayor and municipal security coordinator amid extortion allegations.
Reporting and context
Juchitán’s political crisis deepened after federal forces arrested Mayor Miguel Quetu Sánchez Altamirano and Oaxaca Governor Salomón Jara said he would ask the state Congress to declare the municipal government dissolved, according to El País México. Jara said the move would allow his administration to appoint an official to help maintain security and continuity of local government. The mayor is accused of links to groups involved in extortion, an allegation that remains part of the investigation.
El País reported that federal forces also arrested Juchitán’s municipal security coordinator, John Keny Moreno, the day after the mayor’s detention. Federal forces took control of the municipal police station, while Mariano Rosado López, the municipal secretary, had not assumed the interim mayoralty, according to the report. Jara said the transition should be orderly and that municipal services should continue.
Juchitán has more than 120,000 residents and is a strategic Isthmus of Tehuantepec hub because of its economic activity, fuel routes, migration routes and the Interoceanic Train project. The report said authorities have linked the territory’s extortion, drug retail and human-trafficking activity to Los Cromos, described by the source as a CJNG cell; those claims were attributed to El País and authorities, not independently established here. Further arrests of alleged criminal operators or officials could follow, the report said.