MEXICO CITY — A Roman Catholic priest who was a leading voice for peace and conciliation in the strife-torn southern Mexican state of Chiapas was killed Sunday after celebrating Mass, authorities said, sparking an uprising. wave of complaints throughout the country.
Two assailants aboard a motorcycle shot Father Marcelo Pérez, 41, who was found dead inside a vehicle in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, according to Chiapas prosecutors.
The priest had received multiple threats against his life while advocating for peace in the poorest state of Mexico, which borders Guatemala and is an important transit point for illegal drugs and migrants bound for the United States, as well as for weapons destined to Mexican gangs.
Mexico's two largest criminal syndicates, the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels, are at war over smuggling routes in Chiapas, authorities say, and often buy the loyalty of smaller criminal gangs operating throughout the state.
The ongoing conflict has forced thousands of people to flee for their lives, including more than 500 villagers who fled Chiapas to Guatemala in July. Some towns and cities in Chiapas have been almost deserted.
“Chiapas is a time bomb,” Pérez told Aristegui Noticias de México in September, when he was among thousands of people who participated in a Pilgrimage for Peace in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the state capital. “There are many missing people, many kidnappings, many murders due to the presence of organized crime. …Against this wave of violence, we seek peace.”
Human rights activists condemned the murder of the priest and called on authorities to identify and arrest the killers and whoever ordered the murder. Religious leaders and others also demanded that the government take action to stop the violence in Chiapas, where well-armed gangs far outnumber law enforcement police and soldiers.
“We reject any attempt to minimize this fact as an isolated case and we urgently call on the authorities to restore order in Chiapas,” the Jesuit Order in Mexico said in a statement. “Organized crime has caused fear and pain in various parts of the country, and Chiapas is no exception. “The violence in this region reflects a structural problem that requires a comprehensive and urgent response from the State.”
Pérez was originally from Chiapas and, like much of the state's population, was of indigenous Mayan roots, a member of the Tzotzil-speaking culture. He had intervened for a long time in the struggles that affected the poor indigenous people of the state. Church officials moved Pérez to San Cristóbal de las Casas, the historic colonial town in the heart of the indigenous highlands, after he received death threats at posts in rural parishes where he had previously been assigned.
“For decades, Father Marcelo has been a symbol of resistance and support in Chiapas, defending the dignity, the rights of the people and the construction of authentic peace,” stated the Jesuit Order.
Authorities promised to track down Perez's killers, although officials did not immediately name any suspects.
“There will be no impunity,” declared Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez, Mexico’s security chief, in a statement on X. “Our solidarity [is] with the Catholic community.”
Suppressing violence in Mexico is a major challenge for President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office on October 1. His predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, downplayed the problem of violence in Chiapas, saying reports of rising crime in the southern state were exaggerated. .
Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.
