Monday, June 30, 2025

12 people held in chains for not supporting community’s blockade

Despite a previous intervention by state authorities, citizens were once again held in chains as punishment in an indigenous community in Michoacán.

Local authorities in Santa María Ostula, located in the municipality of Aquila, chained the 12 people to posts and fined them 500 pesos each for not participating in a blockade of the Lázaro Cárdenas-Manzanillo highway last week and for failing to pay dues.

Local officials, who govern using traditional laws, argued that the blockade had been necessary to demand funds for the community police and community defense groups.

Family members of those detained reached out to the Michoacán Human Rights Commission for help and protective services for the victims of the illegal punishment.

The rights commission previously intervened in another indigenous community in Aquila on January 17 when community police held three parents in chains and publicly displayed them as punishment for opposing the closure of a bilingual elementary school that their children attended.

After the commission investigated, state police negotiated the parents’ release and the public security secretary released a statement urging communities that are governed according to traditional laws to respect human rights.

Source: El Universal (sp), La Jornada (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
dancers in traditional costumes

Profits from this year’s Guelaguetza festival to help Oaxaca rebuild from Hurricane Erick

0
Oaxaca Governor Salomón Jara announced on Friday that all profits from the Guelaguetza festival, the state’s preeminent Indigenous cultural event, will be used to reconstruct regions destroyed by Hurricane Erick.
Tecate forest fires in Baja California

Conafor reports Tecate blaze is 75% contained after 15 days of wildfire

0
The fire, which has now spread to over 16,000 hectares, started on June 16 in the Guadalajara 2 community of Tecate, a municipality of approximately 100,000.

Authorities dismantle multi-state fuel theft network, seizing millions in assets

0
The criminal group mainly stole fuel from pipelines operated by the state oil company Pemex, and operated out of 12 facilities spread out across México state, Hidalgo and Querétaro.