Authorities in Chiapas have arrested the interim mayor of Frontera Comalapa aggravated extortion and links to organized crime identified as Jorge "N" and Juan Manuel "N," were also detained Authorities confiscated a vehicle and two loaded rifles during the operation that resulted in Villatoro being transferred to a detention facility to await legal proceedings, according to El Pais a town of 80,000 residents near the Guatemalan border has strategic importance for trade and has been a target for organized crime Villatoro became interim mayor in October following the kidnapping of the elected mayor Governor Eduardo Ramírez stated on his X account that the the arrest is a sign that the state is making significant progress in restoring peace to Frontera Comalapa: Farmers can return to their lands without fear of being used for blockades or checkpoints They will never again be subjected to aggression or acts of violence and public transportation are resuming their normal pace No one will have to pay 'protection fees' or suffer extortion for not belonging to a gang" En Frontera Comalapa, la paz y la tranquilidad están siendo restauradas. Los campesinos pueden regresar a sus tierras sin temor a ser utilizados para bloqueos o filtros. Jamás volverán a ser objeto de agresiones ni de actos violentos que atenten contra sus vidas. Los locales,… pic.twitter.com/t9Wlge3f4R Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's government has pledged to provide Ramirez with the resources necessary for his anti-corruption crusade "I have good news for Chiapas: there will be full support from our Armed Forces and all the agencies involved in this responsibility," said the governor a few days back after a meeting with Sheinbaum remain skeptical about the sustainability of the president's new strategy author of The Latin American Red Pill and expert on Guatemala and the Mexican/Guatemala Border suggesting that any solution to the violence that currently affects Mexico should be resolved with the help of the United States: "So long as Claudia Sheinbaum is an underling of AMLO her confrontation with Donald Trump is counterproductive While I respect her desire for sovereignty she has to acknowledge that Mexico's problems have become problems for the United States as well she would be wise to find common ground and work with U.S officials towards achieving mutual wins for the rule of law" editor at large of the Impunity Observer and based in Guatemala City echoes Hodgson's suggestions that the larger context around Sheinbaum's strategy has to do with her relationship with Trump who has indicated he will declare the cartels terrorist organizations Sheinbaum's success against cartels might hinge on how much she's willing to support Trump's potential policies: If Sheinbaum supports US force against them and manages to survive cartel wrath she would have more control over her country than she has now but will be severely weakened after the cartels have been dismantled by US force" The mayor-elect of a Chiapas municipality near the Guatemala border was kidnapped from a cafe in Tuxtla Gutiérrez becoming the third politician from the mayor-elect’s besieged municipality to be disappear since last December Security video published on social media shows Aníbal Roblero Castillo and at least one companion being forcibly shoved into a vehicle by masked gunmen outside a cafe in the western Tuxtla Gutiérrez neighborhood of San José Terán just before 5 p.m Roblero won Frontera Comalapa’s mayoral race for the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) on June 2 with 28,776 votes (65%) and is due to be sworn in on Oct Authorities on Thursday released a missing persons report that has been posted on Facebook The mayor-elect’s family is asking the public to help locate Roblero residents of the municipality of Frontera Comalapa — population 81,000 — have been victimized by rival criminal organizations battling to control human trafficking and drug routes through southern Mexico according to various local and national media reports The situation is not unique to Frontera Comalapa. Hundreds of residents from across Chiapas have sought refuge from the rising violence, some fleeing across the border into Guatemala Unfortunately for chiapanecos, the federal government has struggled to respond to the increased presence of organized crime in Chiapas. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has downplayed the violence there and this week dismissed it as “a problem between members of criminal gangs.” Although Roblero owns a home in downtown Frontera Comalapa he — like many Chiapas politicians in municipalities affected by organized crime — has sought refuge in the state capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez Roblero is the third Frontera Comalapa politician to be targeted by alleged drug gangs since December armed men kidnapped former mayor Irán Mérida Matamoros just outside of his ranch Mérida was said to be headed for Tuxtla Gutiérrez where he was the director of Chiapas’ Agriculture and Livestock Development Fund a video showing Mérida being interrogated by an unidentified man was made public On April 27, Rey David Gutiérrez — one of Roblero’s opponents in the mayoral election — was kidnapped from his home in Frontera Comalapa after reports that he had been receiving threats Gutiérrez came in second in the June 2 election With reports from López-Dóriga Digital, El Universal and Milenio ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC 127 unidentified remains were returned to the community to offer them a wake and a dignified burial The Coordinator of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA) was instrumental in obtaining the exhumation of 220 victims' remains in Comalapa between 2003 and 2005 - The Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) identified 48 of the bodies and returned them to their families The ICRC reaffirms its commitment to the families of the victims of Comalapa and to the thousands of families who still hope to find their loved ones The armed conflict in Guatemala (1960-1996) resulted in around 45,000 disappeared persons This is the highest figure in Latin America when the population density of that period is taken into account reviews and other resources dedicated to humanitarian impact Terms and conditions - ICRC ©2025 - All right reserved Many of the dead have not been identified yet and the majority of the disappeared have not been found Thousands of families in Guatemala have not found closure has served as an elected Congressional deputy and co-founded CONAVIGUA—a widow’s association composed of women whose husbands sons and daughters had been either killed or disappeared during the conflict The organization also supports women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and facilitated testimonies from women in support of the national reparation programme that was adopted in 2003 along with local and international partners and with funding from the UN Peace Building Fund supports CONAVIGUA (National Widows Coordinator of Guatemala) to advance women’s and indigenous women’s rights to truth and reparation to break the cycle of violence against women This is the story of Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez who are still looking for their loved ones and fighting for justice “Comalapa was one of the municipalities affected by the conflict An estimated 4,000 – 5,000 people [from this area] were forcibly disappeared—that included men The villagers knew that the military kidnapped [indigenous] people and brought them here and tortured them still half alive,” narrates Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez who was instrumental behind setting up a memorial for victims of the conflict in Comalapa It’s called the “Center for the Historical Memory of Women” sits on a 80-square-vara [roughly 56 square metres] land surrounded by woods In the middle of the clearing stands a one-room house Its external walls are being painted in traditional murals by women painters from the region The walls inside the house of memories are adorned by crosses bearing the names of victims who had been killed or disappeared during the conflict “When there was no more room to bury the bodies threw gasoline over them and burnt the bodies People in the area said they could hear the screams from far away; they could smell people burning.” the Guatemalan military claimed that only guerrilla fighters were killed in this area but the mass graves also contained the bodies of decapitated and mutilated women and children Tuyuc points to a deep hole in the ground—one of the three mass graves that have been left uncovered—"In this site we found a family buried together—the mother One of the girls was missing a foot.” CONAVIGUA has tried to locate the families of the dead working with the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala But many of the bodies exhumed from the site in Comalapa are yet to be positively identified “We exhumed 226 bodies from this site…173 have not been identified,” says Tuyuc “We feel the need to give them a proper burial that they deserve Those who have not found their families can now come here and honour their families’ memories here We should promote this kind of initiative throughout the country,” she adds “Last time I saw my husband was 23 May 1984,” remembers Tyuc Tuyuc’s husband was a farmer and an indigenous leader who advocated for land rights and promoted farmers’ cooperatives which made him a target of persecution by the military At the heart of Guatemala’s bloody conflict were struggle for land and racism against indigenous populations “He was captured by the army and never came back she is still looking for the remains of her father and her husband “I still keep hoping to find their bodies It’s also a search for peace and dignity for thousands of indigenous women who were raped sons and brothers: “Perhaps we didn’t know what human rights were including mental health services for women survivors of the conflict “Thousands of women are psychologically impacted they feel dirty [because of the sexual violence they suffered] When they realize that the guilt shouldn’t be theirs it’s the perpetrators that are to blame… they recover their dignity including the widows and survivors of the conflict who are among the most affected and marginalized Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez doesn’t hesitate: “To know where my husband and my father are buried and to say to my children that I have accomplished my mission.” She doesn’t know if that will happen in her lifetime Tuyuc and other women leaders of Guatemala wake up and get to work Copyright © UN Women The "Fighting Tigers" of VP-8 recently participated in Cooperative Security Location (CSL) Comalapa The celebration featured aircraft static displays from VP-8 Customs and Border Patrol agency and the El Salvador Air Force "The anniversary celebration provided a great opportunity for VP-8 Sailors to meet their El Salvador counterparts and to enjoy some local food and entertainment." CSL Comalapa provides critical logistics and infrastructure to support forward deployed U.S military units participating in Joint Interagency Task JIATF-S supports counter-illicit trafficking operations The VP-8 Fighting Tigers are currently deployed to El Salvador supporting JIATF-S and U.S Diálogo Américas Around-the-clock multinational counter drug missions impact transnational criminal organizations The Cooperative Security Location (CSL) Comalapa located at the Salvadoran Air Base of the same name and infrastructure support to partner nation and U.S aircraft in their international counter narcotrafficking operations The United States and the Salvadoran government signed a cooperative 10-year agreement in March 2000 Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) oversees its operations spoke with Diálogo during a visit to the installation about the mission and the importance of the U.S Diálogo: What is CSL Comalapa’s main focus with regard to Latin America and the Caribbean commanding officer of CSL Comalapa: Our mission is to provide operational support to both manned and unmanned aviation units who participate in Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-South)’s detection and monitoring mission JIATF-South maintains our operational tasking The support CSL provides is through multiple streams of resources like security Our main focus in regard to SOUTHCOM’s area of operations is to intercept contacts in the Eastern Pacific’s realm of the maritime domain and may also extend operations into the Caribbean from time-to-time Our mission supports SOUTHCOM’s security efforts by disrupting threat networks Diálogo: What are CSL Comalapa’s capabilities Daniel: Our primary capability is to provide 24-hour flight operations We wouldn’t be able to do our mission without strong partnerships with the host nation and the interagency work within U.S How has this benefitted its relationship and SOUTHCOM’s relationship with the Salvadoran government and El Salvador each benefit from this agreement CSL is one of several programs implemented throughout U.S interagency [efforts] to improve security in El Salvador El Salvador has 100 percent conviction rate for those who are caught trafficking narcotics with an average sentence of 12 years in prison and El Salvador’ combined efforts create a big impact on transnational criminal organizations As part of our great partnership with El Salvador we offer many different opportunities for the Salvadoran community through local-hire contract positions CSL infused $11 million into the local economy CSL represents a tangible commitment to El Salvador that is persistent CSL shows SOUTHCOM’s commitment to being a partner of choice in the Western Hemisphere among our allies and it affords us the operating space to be effective when allocating resources across the region our geographical location also keeps us central to many of our partners Diálogo: How do you interact with partner nations during a specific operation Daniel: We work with a number of interagency partners who through their ground work discover illicit networks—everyday they gather intelligence to gain information to create a case and then pass the information through JIATF-South our flight crew receives the information to launch the detection and monitoring phase they will monitor the ‘contacts of interest’ and report Coast Guard or the partner nation can proceed with the interdiction Coast Guard or the partner nation to carry out the law-enforcement piece since the interdiction and prosecution is through their respective departments of justice we need to ensure we comply with the rule of law Diálogo: What combined initiatives does CSL Comalapa conduct with other Central American partner nations to counter transnational criminal organizations Daniel: We conduct counter illicit trafficking by and through all of our partners in the region We also have a joint partnership with Canada who routinely sends aviation assets to CSL Comalapa to participate under the umbrella of JIATF-South’s detection and monitoring mission We also work from time to time with Joint Task Force-Bravo in Honduras Diálogo: CSL Comalapa has an important role in the fight against narcotrafficking in the region How does this mission help reduce the impact of transnational drug trafficking organizations we disrupted $6 billion worth of narcotics—the amount reflects only the street value of the drugs and does not factor in the cost of healthcare or other related expenses associated with a drug-ridden economy CSL Comalapa had a mission with the Mexican authorities who carried out the endgame resulting in a $32-million bust Our location and proximity to both source and vector countries make us particularly successful at removing drugs from illicit networks designed to move contraband throughout the world Diálogo: What’s the importance of real-time communications for successful operations in the fight against transnational criminal activities Daniel: In the aviation community we practice Crew Resource Management (CRM) a system designed to promote safety that is useful in managing resources within any organized system organizing the system becomes—at best—degraded or at worst real-time communications are a lifeline that means the difference between saving lives by stopping drugs or misdirecting valuable resources because we are looking in the wrong place at the wrong time Diálogo: How does CSL Comalapa work with partner nations to respond to humanitarian and search-and-rescue missions Daniel: CSL is capable of supporting many aspects of humanitarian and rescue missions—whether acting as a staging or acting as a kind of rescue mission coordinator for operational support Most recently we were a logistics hub during Beyond the Horizon a joint annual exercise that provides medical and engineering services for Latin America and the Caribbean Embassy to prepare for and respond to a humanitarian crisis Diálogo: Would you like to add anything to our Diálogo readers Daniel: This mission has been for me one of the most rewarding positions I have had in my military career CSL is at the center of many important discussions occurring in Washington D.C There is not a day that goes by that we do not see a direct impact on the safety of people of El Salvador I can’t thank El Salvador enough for the role they play in this tremendous partnership For more on security and defense issues around the globe This work, CSL Comalapa Hosts Annual Open House for Local Salvadorans, by PO2 Michael Hendricks, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright “The villagers knew that the military kidnapped [indigenous] people and brought them here and tortured them still half alive.” The chilling words of Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez a member of an indigenous group in Guatemala The horrific picture she paints was the reality experienced by many Guatemalans during the 36-year-long armed conflict between the military and guerilla groups which killed at least 200,000 people in the Central American country Now, Rosalina and the women of San Juan Comalapa, a municipality some 80 kilometers from the capital, Guatemala City, have established a memorial for victims of the conflict, due in part to the support of UN Women it is called the Center for the Historical Memory of Women and has been painted with murals by artists from across the region Read more about the women of San Juan Comalapa and the memorial they have built to the dead and disappeared. Indigenous people in a remote mountain town in the Andes in Peru are being helped to boost their incomes by preserving a valuable but threatened breed of alpaca. The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants Rejoice in the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Falling Out of Love … and Climbing Back In Strengthening the Family: Created in the Image of God 2005 Mutual Theme: “A Great and a Marvelous Work” (1 Nephi 14:7) President Hinckley Breaks Ground for Sacramento California Temple Church Continues to Grow in More than 160 Countries Missionaries’ Olympic Efforts Are Golden in Greece Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s History Ranges from Sagebrush to Royal Halls Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice: Born Again through Baptism Sharing Time Poster: I Will Follow God’s Plan for Me Jairo Eli Xocop of Comalapa, GuatemalaJanuary 2005 “Jairo Eli Xocop of Comalapa By Dalila Xocop and Virna Rodríguez Lush green shrubs and pine forests surround the ancient Mayan ruins of Iximché Eleven-year-old Jairo Eli Xocop of Comalapa likes to visit the ruins and talk with his family about their family history and ancestors skilled Cakchiquel stonemasons built these vast fortified cities Today Jairo is working just as hard to build a foundation of faith and good works in the gospel as he prepares to be ordained a deacon A member of the Comalapa Branch in the Chimaltenango Guatemala Stake Jairo lives in a small town in the mountains where the Cakchiquel language is spoken He will be 12 soon and is eager to receive the priesthood and become a member of the deacons quorum goes with him and his family to church every Sunday Jairo is eager to learn from the full-time missionaries who teach the Aaronic Priesthood class in his branch Jairo likes to participate with the 30 other children in his branch in Primary Jairo’s favorite part of Primary is sharing time but he also likes to sing hymns and listen to his teachers talk about the prophets’ lives which he has been practicing for three years he won second place in both speed-walking and the long jump Jairo is preparing to serve a mission by reading the Book of Mormon and other Church books He attends all his Church meetings and is saving money in a savings account for his mission he will become a faithful man and a strong missionary,” says Jairo’s mom says she admires the way he gets up every Sunday morning and gets ready quickly so he can walk to church with his cousin César They arrive on time and sit in one of the front rows His experiences are laying a foundation for a lifetime of working hard in the service of others Dalila Xocop is a member of the Comalapa Branch Virna Rodríguez is a member of the Panorama Ward except as noted; photograph of ruins by Helen Norberg Jairo likes to visit the ancient ruins of Iximché (above) to talk about family history he has liked to read and learn from the Book of Mormon (left) Home Internships & Jobs Take Action DonateMore SearchGuatemala’s painstaking search for the disappearedAl JazeeraJun 27 Search for and identification of remains of civil war disappeared provides hope for families Guatemala – Victoria Tubin was 10 years old when her father was disappeared by the Guatemalan military It was September 1981 – the height of the country’s 36-year armed conflict – and Sebastian Tubin Poyon was entering his town of San Juan Comalapa when he never came home like thousands of Guatemalans whose relatives went missing during the war Victoria and her family have never given up their search “I still feel the absence of my father,” she told Al Jazeera during a June 19 commemoration of the establishment of a memorial site at a former military encampment at the town’s entrance where her father was last seen clutching a photo of her father in her arms Victoria Tubin holds a photo of her father who was disappeared in 1981 [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera] © 2021 Al Jazeera Media Network When Guatemala’s decades-long armed conflict came to an end in December 1996 more than 200,000 people were dead and 45,000 were disappeared The violence affected rural Indigenous communities particularly hard A United Nations-backed truth commission found that Indigenous Mayans accounted for 83 percent of the victims while the Guatemalan military was responsible for 93 percent of all human rights violations The commission concluded that acts of genocide had occurred “The state was a well-oiled machine that put all of its assets to making sure that no one could find these bodies,” Fredy Peccerelli executive director of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG Tubin Poyon was a community leader in his Indigenous Maya Kaqchikel community located about 76km (47 miles) from the capital Guatemala City and was working to improve access to services That is what drew the attention of the military The family fled San Juan Comalapa to live in a municipality close to Guatemala City after learning of threats against them But they suffered from extreme poverty in their new location and on September 13 her father returned to San Juan Comalapa to pick up money to support his family and beaten by the military on the main road into town Tubin Poyon was taken to the military encampment at the entrance to the town the former military encampment at the entrance to San Juan Comalapa has sat as an open wound for Indigenous residents – and a symbol of enduring pain and myriad questions about the disappearances of their loved ones Unmarked graves were discovered at the former encampment after families of the disappeared approached Guatemala’s public prosecutor’s office with stories and personal accounts of the disappearances independent investigators uncovered the remains of 220 people in 53 grave sites between 2003 and 2005 at the site of the former military encampment the FAFG was initially able to identify 48 but did not make its first identifications until 2011 its experts have found more than 8,000 remains in clandestine graves in former military encampments Nearly 4,000 of these remains have been identified “Every family member that we have worked with hopes their family member is alive,” Peccerelli said “But that doesn’t mean you should stop looking also among the dead – as hard as that sounds and as hard as that is.” Identification is a long and expensive process one that is hindered by resistance from the military to provide information and a lack of political will to establish a commission to find the victims of the bloodiest period of the war But the dedication of families to find their loved ones and the work of the FAFG have allowed for the establishment of an archive of DNA profiles that the remains can be compared to as Peccerelli explained the process depends on having DNA samples from different living family members The FAFG maintains a database of family members of the disappeared and has an active campaign for people to provide their DNA so that it can be potentially matched with found remains “It’s literally looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said “And a lot of it is just the coincidence of finding the right body at the right time and the right family at the right time and having those two match within the database.” Tubin thinks often of what her father would say about her trajectory in the last 40 years nor has Tubin’s DNA been matched to any of the remains the FAFG has identified “The search for my father has helped me,” Tubin said “It has helped me more than [for my siblings] Guatemalan families are not alone in the search for disappeared loved ones Efforts to locate individuals missing from war advocates have pushed for states to help search and identify the disappeared as a key step on the path to truth and healing “Embracing that and ensuring that states take responsibility to find all missing persons regardless of what category they’re missing in director-general of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) “It’s really difficult and it’s difficult because often states or political actors acting on their behalf are responsible for these disappearances,” she said Regional cooperation in the Balkans led to the discovery of 3,000 clandestine graves in the region as well as the identification of more than 70 percent of the 40,000 disappeared during conflicts in the region between 1991 to 1995 “Finding missing persons requires a post-conflict environment where the state can assume its responsibility,” Bomberger said investigators can continue to face barriers in spite of advances in the search for the missing the country’s congress has shown a lack of interest in approving legislation that would assist in the search for those missing from the war families and advocates for the victims of the war requested the approval of a law that would establish a commission to search for the 45,000 victims So the search is largely left up to the families and organisations like the FAFG “It is important to continue the search for the disappeared and identify them,” Jordan Rodas “But the government of Guatemala does not show the political will to assist thousands of families to find their loved ones.” Guatemala is one of a handful of countries in which independent investigators have successfully worked to locate and identify those who disappeared during an internal armed conflict The FAFG has also launched a school to share its experience with investigators from other countries Investigators from around the world regularly travel to Guatemala to learn the techniques and lessons of the national search interdisciplinary teams that can focus on searching for the disappeared specifically – and make connections to victims’ families and wider communities “The biggest mistake is trying to just absorb searching for the disappeared into your normal forensic caseload,” he said You need to be able to gain people’s trust You need to be able to be with the community.” the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA) organized 49 exhumations in Comalapa’s former military garrison This long and arduous process gave way to the retrieval of the remains of 179 wartime victims Recently CONAVIGUA inaugurated a small memorial chapel in the former military garrison of San Juan Comalapa as a place to honor the victims of the State-perpetrated genocide Source: MiMundo.org Multimedia presentation with photographs and music recorded during the commemoration Between 2003 and 2004 CONAVIGUA organized 49 exhumations in Comalapa’s former military garrison This long and arduous process gave way to the retrieval of the remains of 179 wartime victims For more information, please view the following photo essay: Day of the Dead in Comalapa Born and raised in Comalapa CONAVIGUA’s director Rosalina Tuyuc (right) endured the forced disappearance of her father Javier Tuyuc in 1982 Thirty years later it is still painful for Filomena Cúmez to remember her son Álvaro Adolfo Cúmez Angelica Chalí displays a photograph of her grandfather Benedicto Chalí victim of an extrajudicial execution on April 24 Griselda Kiná holds an image where Felipe Chalí Alberta Osorio holds a photograph of her father Agustin Osorio abducted and disappeared by the Guatemalan Armed Forces on July 23 The Poyón Cúmez family with an image of the late husband father and grandfather Felipe Poyón Saquiquel forcibly disappeared by the Armed Forces on May 8 Julia Cúmez states: “Even though the remains of many of the victims were not found in the former military garrison this Nimajay is a symbol in honor of all those who were forcibly disappeared and executed Now we have a little place where we can bring them a flower and remember them.” “In memory of the dignity of the victims of genocide Version en español aquí Ecuador: Native Leaders Call for Anti-Government Protests Guatemala: Por la memoria de nuestros mártires y la sangre derremada en Comalapa [newsletter_form type=”minimal”] A contingent of Sinaloa Cartel gunmen made an audacious and ostentatious entrance to southern Mexico on Saturday arriving in a region on the border with Guatemala in a convoy made up of more than a dozen vehicles including ones specifically equipped for armed combat The convoy – captured in video footage that was widely shared on social media – drove into Frontera Comalapa a municipality that is part of a border region where the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are involved in a long-running turf war that has disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people — Isaín Mandujano (@isain) September 24, 2023 Hundreds of residents lined the highway and cheered as pickup trucks filled with heavily armed men and other vehicles arrived in Frontera Comalapa after passing through the neighboring municipality of La Trinitaria According to a report by the news website Aristegui Noticias men and women were “forced” to stand next to the highway in the town of San Gregorio Chamic to welcome the Sinaloa Cartel operatives who reportedly arrived in Chiapas from Zacatecas and Durango The newspaper El Universal reported that locals shouted messages of support for the criminal organization whose members declared their allegiance to Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and assured residents they were coming to help The arrival of the cartel convoy in Frontera Comalapa came after weeks of highway blockades and unrest in the border region of Chiapas The Sinaloa Cartel gunmen also reportedly moved into the nearby municipalities of La Grandeza and Siltepec where they were said to be searching for their CJNG adversaries on Sunday El Universal reported that the CJNG has recently maintained control over the town of Frontera Comalapa the administrative center of the municipality of the same name The CJNG also controls the municipal administrative centers of Siltepec and Motozintla but the Sinaloa Cartel has surrounded those towns and Frontera Comalapa the Sinaloa Cartel controls almost 300 communities near the border with Guatemala The CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel – and local gangs affiliated with Mexico’s two most powerful criminal organizations – are competing to control routes along which narcotics weapons and migrants are transported north after entering the country from Guatemala Blockades they have set up have impeded the entry of essential products such as food creating shortages in some parts of the southern border region The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has been unable to get into communities where cartel members allegedly cut supply while schools have canceled classes in recent weeks due to blockades and security concerns Trucks transporting foodstuffs including pork and eggs were able to get through to border communities after the arrival of additional Sinaloa Cartel members on Saturday but President López Obrador said Monday that the CFE still hadn’t been able to get into communities to restore electricity service The conflict between the CJNG and Sinaloa Cartel in border region municipalities including Motozintla, Mazapa de Madero and Siltepec has flared up periodically during a period of over two years. An outbreak of violence earlier this year forced thousands of Frontera Comalapa residents out of their communities and into the nearby municipality of Chicomuselo the CJNG was blamed for the murder of four men on Friday who apparently betrayed that cartel by switching allegiances Aristegui Noticias reported that more than 280,000 residents of several border region municipalities have become “trapped” due to the worsening dispute between the powerful cartels The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center and others have highlighted cases of forced recruitment of locals by the criminal organizations state and federal authorities “have denied the seriousness of what the population [of the border region] is suffering,” Aristegui Noticias reported Teachers and principals have denounced the absence of security forces to combat the criminal organizations while in a statement issued over the weekend the Catholic Church’s Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas described the situation as a “crisis.” Isaín Mandujano, a journalist in Chiapas, said on X (formerly Twitter) that colleagues from other states had contacted him “to report from the narco-violence ground zero.” “My response is categorical: NO. No authority of any level can offer the [necessary] security guarantees to do our work,” he wrote a correspondent for the Proceso news magazine said that cartel violence has caused the displacement of thousands of border region residents since 2021 as well as the deaths and disappearances of hundreds of citizens including “a lot of innocent people.” He said that both the army and the National Guard have a presence in the region but “do nothing to stop the violence.” “… Due to the absence of the state each sector of the population applauds their favorite cartel [the one] that has them subjugated,” Mandujano wrote on X “Journalist colleagues from the area have kept quiet left or dedicated themselves to other activities that have nothing to do with journalism [the cartels] check all cell phones – the chats they don’t miss anything,” he said Speaking at his morning press conference on Monday López Obrador said that the Sinaloa Cartel gunmen’s entrance to Frontera Comalapa was part of a propaganda campaign “there are organized crime groups that are allegedly fighting for territory in order to have space to … [move] drugs that come in from Central America to have control over that territory,” he said “And unfortunately they clash [but] there haven’t been a lot of murders in Chiapas in general,” López Obrador said “… There has been a lot of propaganda,” he said making an apparent reference to material posted online by cartels to demonstrate their strength “So they brought out a video in which 20 pickup trucks are going into Frontera Comalapa and people on both sides of the highway are apparently welcoming them,” López Obrador said before asserting that opponents of his government – “the conservatives” – are responsible for disseminating the footage and making it go “viral.” He conceded that crime groups have “support bases” in parts of Chiapas and the rest of Mexico because they distribute groceries to locals or “threaten them,” but asserted that the problem is “very limited.” The government is attending to the situation in the border region of Chiapas noting that the National Guard is there and that citizens benefit from social and welfare programs “I already ordered a greater presence of the National Guard in that entire region and we’re going to continue helping,” he added The smattering of houses and shops at San Gregorio Chamic is 25 miles from the sprawling town of Frontera Comalapa in the far south of Mexico by the border with Guatemala Between them is one of the many front lines dividing cartels that zig-zag across Mexico like cuts on shattered glass Chamic is the territory of the Sinaloa Cartel and its local affiliates while Comalapa is controlled by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel The mafias both command paramilitary wings and mobs of “civilians,” who blockade roads and control who enters the Sinaloa Cartel shut down all transit going through Chamic as well as from the other side through a town called Motozintla and managed to starve Comalapa of supplies Desperate residents posted videos of supermarkets with empty shelves the two sides erupted into a new round of firefights and torching cars and the Mexican army rolled in The area was also the scene of this viral video below in September showing a convoy of trucks rolling through Chamic packed with gunmen to a cheering crowd It was portrayed as the Sinaloa Cartel liberating the town from the Jalisco mob to happy residents The Sinaloa Cartel already controlled the territory were either part of the cartel’s larger forces or were ordered under duress to go out and cheer (or be forced to pay a fine) It was a new type of narco propaganda video Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas has long avoided the worst of the cartel wars plaguing swathes of the country It was better known for the Zapatista rebels that rose up in 1994 and became a symbol for indigenous rights and the anti-globalization movement The colonial town of San Cristóbal and the pyramids of Palenque are popular tourist spots The cartels move and sell drugs in Chiapas as everywhere they go. And the state is a pathway for migrants heading to the United States, which means there is a human smuggling business they can tax. But they are also taking over broader rackets such as control of informal street vendors, giving them money from tens of thousands of people. They have gained power by taking over local forces, not just of criminals but of community groups and village militias. And by doing so, they have mixed old local beefs with the new narco war, making Chiapas an especially explosive front. Frontera Comalapa by the Mexico-Guatemala border We drive up to an Oxxo store to buy coffee and an SUV appears and blocks us in. Its occupants are in black t-shirts and baseball caps, smarter and with more swagger than the mob at the entrance, and they stare us down as we sip from the paper cups. I give them a nod and after ten minutes they drive off and we get out of town. We roll into the border crossing with Guatemala, known as La Mesilla. It’s normally a thriving market for cross-border trade, with Mexicans buying cheaper Guatemalan clothes and Guatemalans buying Mexican canned goods and produce. But now people are staying away because of the violence and it’s totally dead, smashing the local economy. The crossing was also a big corridor for undocumented migrants but again the fighting has killed the route and voyagers are crossing further south at Tapachula or further north at points such as Tenosique. I wonder if a cartel has deliberately shut down the route to hurt the business of the other. Cartels can be better at controlling migration flows than governments. A pair of state police officers stop us and search the car. They demand a passport but back off when I flash a press pass. They talk about the shoot outs and how crazy recent fighting was at Motozintla but assure us the army will make it go back to normal. We pass another mob into the town of Comalapa, this time of sturdy looking men, one with a machete, and head through the streets to a pastor who has agreed to meet us. We sit down in his home next to his church and he serves us roast chicken and rice and tells us about the situation. “We have been invaded,” he says. The pastor is an evangelical who converted from Catholicism after he suffered a drink problem then was born again and he set up his church here over a decade ago His congregation grew and things were going fine until about two years ago when the Jalisco Cartel arrived “They got all the leaders of the organizations together and they said ‘You have to work for us.’ ” I ask about these “organizations,” and he explains they are everything from street vendors to taxi drivers to farmers to neighborhood committees a structure that emerged across Chiapas over decades the cartel is able to extort money from a large chunk of the economy “Everyone is made to pay their quota,” he says The arrival of the Jalisco Cartel and its war with the Sinaloans has been devastating for the pastor’s church either to other parts of Mexico or the United States “We have lost most of our brothers and sisters,” he says The cartel sends informers to see what he says in the services so he’s careful what he preaches. He cites a teacher who organized a local march against the insecurity. In October, gunmen went to his home in the nearby town of Chicomuselo at 3 am, tied up his wife and son, and beat him in front of them before putting a bullet in his head. When I ask about the army, the pastor shakes his head. The Jalisco Cartel openly has what he calls “offices,” where they organize and the military don’t mess with them. “There is nobody here to protect us,” the pastor tells me. As we drive out of town, we see a splattering of soldiers loitering on the streets. But even if the troops did go after the cartel gunmen, they can act like guerrillas and disappear into the hills and safe houses only to reappear later. And as military strategists have pointed out, to combat such a guerilla threat you have to control every inch of ground. Enriqueta points out that the Mexican state has always been lacking in this region and armed groups have long been operating, such as those of the paramilitaries of ranchers and profiteers. “It is a place on the border lands, far away from the Mexican center of power but close to Guatemala. There is fluid population going through it. There are many divisions, between the long term residents and migrants, between the ranchers and campesinos. There is a history of violence.” With such a checkered past, these developments can seem less extraordinary than in a place that has known peace and good governance. “Now it’s difficult to distinguish between social groups and organized crime groups,” Enriqueta says. The narco presence also has a history in the area, albeit with less violence as the Sinaloa Cartel used to operate unchallenged. As well as moving cocaine through the state, the Sinaloan gangsters used it to launder money. Residents of San Cristóbal talk openly of a chain of hotels and gas stations owned by an infamous narco; the official owner is a former shoeshine boy who suddenly became a major investor. However, Enriqueta says the Jalisco Cartel appeared about five years ago and gradually expanded its territory until it sparked the current war. The new strength of the Jalisco mob in Chiapas owes much to their links with powerful Guatemalan gangsters from a clan known as Las Huistas. While the Huistas are no household name, the U.S. State Department offers a whopping $10 million reward for their alleged head, Don Dario, who is accused of smuggling vast amounts of cocaine. Enriqueta says the Jalisco mob built their power base from the south expanding territory from Guatemala into Mexico This explains how they managed to be surrounded by the Sinaloa Cartel inside Mexican territory “They have a very disciplined paramilitary structure,” Enriqueta says A Mexican army intelligence dispatch in 2022 reported cartel gunmen in the area moving back and fourth from Guatemala The soldiers also found uniforms from Guatemala’s elite Kaibil wing which specializes in jungle warfare and anti insurgency Former Kaibiles have worked for Mexican cartels before and it’s diverse politically,” Enriqueta says the current cartel war is different in different places The highlands around Ocosingo are the center of the Zapatista movement which has tried to resist the incursion of organized crime The indigenous town of San Juan Chamula has given birth to its own mafia But the situation on the southern border is the most extreme. With such a sudden rise of violence and extortion, I wonder how big the reaction could be. Several autodefensas, or self-defense squads, have announced their formation this year including one calling itself the Civil Army of Indigenous People. With its history of rebellion and armed groups, Chiapas could face a conflict like that which erupted in Michoacán State in 2014 when vigilantes and narcos faced off in trench warfare. But tragically while that conflict led to thousands of deaths, it ultimately failed to stop the endemic cartel war. CrashOut by Ioan Grillo is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Copyright Ioan Grillo and CrashOutMedia 2023 ReplyShare 12 replies by Ioan Grillo and others 46 more comments...TopLatestDiscussionsNo posts This is the first of a three-part series from Mexico\u2019s southern state of Chiapas. Para leer en espa\u00F1ol click aqui. Subscribe now The mafias both command paramilitary wings and mobs of \u201Ccivilians,\u201D who blockade roads and control who enters were either part of the cartel\u2019s larger forces or were ordered under duress to go out and cheer (or be forced to pay a fine) Mexico\u2019s southern state of Chiapas has long avoided the worst of the cartel wars plaguing swathes of the country The colonial town of San Crist\u00F3bal and the pyramids of Palenque are popular tourist spots We roll into the border crossing with Guatemala, known as La Mesilla. It\u2019s normally a thriving market for cross-border trade, with Mexicans buying cheaper Guatemalan clothes and Guatemalans buying Mexican canned goods and produce. But now people are staying away because of the violence and it\u2019s totally dead, smashing the local economy. We pass another mob into the town of Comalapa, this time of sturdy looking men, one with a machete, and head through the streets to a pastor who has agreed to meet us. We sit down in his home next to his church and he serves us roast chicken and rice and tells us about the situation. \u201CWe have been invaded,\u201D he says. \u201CThey got all the leaders of the organizations together and they said \u2018You have to work for us.\u2019 \u201D I ask about these \u201Corganizations,\u201D and he explains they are everything from street vendors to taxi drivers to farmers to neighborhood committees \u201CEveryone is made to pay their quota,\u201D he says The arrival of the Jalisco Cartel and its war with the Sinaloans has been devastating for the pastor\u2019s church \u201CWe have lost most of our brothers and sisters,\u201D he says \u201CWe are struggling to just keep going.\u201D The cartel sends informers to see what he says in the services so he\u2019s careful what he preaches. He cites a teacher who organized a local march against the insecurity. In October, gunmen went to his home in the nearby town of Chicomuselo at 3 am, tied up his wife and son, and beat him in front of them before putting a bullet in his head. When I ask about the army, the pastor shakes his head. The Jalisco Cartel openly has what he calls \u201Coffices,\u201D where they organize and the military don\u2019t mess with them. \u201CThere is nobody here to protect us,\u201D the pastor tells me. \u201CIt is a place on the border lands, far away from the Mexican center of power but close to Guatemala. There is fluid population going through it. There are many divisions, between the long term residents and migrants, between the ranchers and campesinos. There is a history of violence.\u201D With such a checkered past, these developments can seem less extraordinary than in a place that has known peace and good governance. \u201CNow it\u2019s difficult to distinguish between social groups and organized crime groups,\u201D Enriqueta says. The narco presence also has a history in the area, albeit with less violence as the Sinaloa Cartel used to operate unchallenged. As well as moving cocaine through the state, the Sinaloan gangsters used it to launder money. Residents of San Crist\u00F3bal talk openly of a chain of hotels and gas stations owned by an infamous narco; the official owner is a former shoeshine boy who suddenly became a major investor. \u201CThey have a very disciplined paramilitary structure,\u201D Enriqueta says A Mexican army intelligence dispatch in 2022 reported cartel gunmen in the area moving back and fourth from Guatemala The soldiers also found uniforms from Guatemala\u2019s elite Kaibil wing and it\u2019s diverse politically,\u201D Enriqueta says But the situation on the southern border is the most extreme. With such a sudden rise of violence and extortion, I wonder how big the reaction could be. Several autodefensas, or self-defense squads, have announced their formation this year including one calling itself the Civil Army of Indigenous People. With its history of rebellion and armed groups, Chiapas could face a conflict like that which erupted in Michoac\u00E1n State in 2014 when vigilantes and narcos faced off in trench warfare. But tragically while that conflict led to thousands of deaths, it ultimately failed to stop the endemic cartel war. My NewsSign Out Sign InCreate your free profileSections news Alerts where there are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants immigration reform -- one of President Barack Obama's big promises -- will be one of the first topics of debate in the new Congress if the tug-of-war over the debt ceiling does not get in the way This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page People who are reportedly residents of Frontera Comalapa in Mexico’s Chiapas state attacked soldiers and police officers with sticks stones and Molotov cocktails Tuesday after members of state and federal agencies attempted to enter the town which was recently taken over by an organized crime syndicate. members of the National Guard and police officers attempted to bring peace to Frontera Comalapa who may be victims of forced recruitment by criminal organizations The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) have fought for control of the border region in Chiapas The battle for territory between criminal syndicates has created a war zone for the residents of Frontera Comalapa who have suffered from murders and disappearances at the hands of hired killers Shootings where unarmed civilians are killed in the crossfire have been constant since May 22 violence in the municipality has increased alarmingly in the last week with young people from various communities being forcibly recruited by criminals to assist in their control of the region and to push back security authorities.The violence is constant even with the strong presence of the army in the region and only 24 kilometers (15 miles) away is the largest army base in the state According to the NGO Fray Bartolome de las Casas caravans of vehicles carrying heavily armed men parade in front of the headquarters The NGO has denounced the empowerment of the criminals due to the military's failure to protect the people which has resulted in an exodus of residents trying to escape the violence "At least 3,000 people were displaced from their communities and others have been taking refuge in the mountains or some safe place for days We are also informed that many families remain in their homes without being able to leave They are locked in by the extreme terror they are living through It has come to this under the mechanics of complicity and abandonment of the Mexican government," Fray Bartolome de las Casas said in a press release Chiapas State AttorneyMexican police officers believed they had discovered evidence of mass murder when they found 150 skulls in a cave in 2012 When Mexican police officers entered a cave in the municipality of Frontera Comalapa in 2012 The subterranean site in the state of Chiapas held 150 skulls and other human remains and authorities immediately assumed it was a modern crime scene experts have concluded that the bones are pre-Columbian According to the New York Post the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced the news on April 27 Dated to the Early Postclassic period from 900 to 1200 C.E. and infants who were ritually beheaded — and displayed on a sort of “trophy” rack called a tzompantli analyses have been carried out that allow INAH physical anthropologists to delve into a funerary context that is approximately a thousand years old and even theorize that there was an altar of skulls in the Comalapa cave,” the statement reads USA Today/YouTubeOne of the only skulls with teeth discovered inside the cave According to Ancient Origins police were initially alerted to the site by a local citizen who stumbled upon its macabre contents Officers believed they had discovered evidence of mass murder and treated the site as such by cordoning off the scene reporting it to their superiors — and collecting the skulls themselves “Believing they were looking at a crime scene investigators collected the bones and started examining them in Tuxtla Gutierrez,” wrote the INAH years of anthropological research and physical analyses ensued They also realized that not a single complete skeleton was found at the scene and radius bones were scattered about inside “We have recognized the skeletal remains of three infants but most of the bones are from adults and… they are more from women than from men,” wrote the INAH “We still do not have the exact calculation of how many there are but so far we can talk about approximately 150 skulls.” The INAH was also fascinated to learn that almost all of the skulls were toothless This paralleled the discovery of 124 skulls found in a cave in La Trinitaria in the 1980s and five others found in a cave in Ocozocoautla in 1993 The INAH was baffled that the skulls lacked perforations on both sides as most human sacrifices in pre-Hispanic Mexico had holes drilled into their heads to be mounted on display racks a report by the Chiapas State Attorney General’s Office confirmed that authorities had found traces of wooden sticks in the cave which were aligned in a pattern This led the INAH to believe that the skulls had been mounted atop wooden poles rather than being penetrated through the sides These tzompantli racks have been long documented in accounts by Spanish conquistadors dating back to the 1520s While the INAH currently believes that the cave in Comalapa was clearly a site of ritual sacrifice the wooden sticks apparently used to display the skulls thereafter have naturally since succumbed to the elements “Many of these structures were made of wood a material that disappeared over time and could have collapsed all the skulls,” wrote the INAH INAHMost of the skulls found belonged to women the INAH still has countless questions to answer Why most of the human remains inside the cave were those of women the institute confirmed that it will continue investigating the site and its remains — with one urgent message standing out above all “When people find something that could be in an archaeological context don’t touch it and notify local authorities or directly the INAH,” they wrote After reading about the skulls found in a Mexican cave, learn about the skulls found in a 14th-century Aztec temple in Mexico City. Then, read about the Viking sacrificial cave found in the shadow of a volcano.