At least seven dead men and three wounded left an armed attack on Friday night against victims of forced displacement from the Santa Martha sector, who took refuge in the Zapatista community of Polhó, Chenalhó municipality, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, reported this Saturday state authorities.
In a statement issued this day, the State Attorney General’s Office reported that it had opened an investigation folder for the crimes of homicide and injuries against the person or persons responsible for the events that occurred in the Zapatista community.
The shooting attack occurred on Friday night when a group of armed men showed up at a warehouse where the displaced people from Santa Marta were and began to shoot with a firearm. As a result of the attack, 7 people died and three people were injured. .
In an interview with EFE, human rights defender Reynaldo Pérez pointed out that the attack was directed at the house where around 150 victims of forced displacement from the community of Santa Martha, Chenalhó, were sheltering.
The group was stripped of their lands and communal rights since September 2022 and fled after an armed confrontation that lasted seven days, over a dispute over 22.5 hectares of land.
“What happened in Polhó was that an armed group attacked the camp for the displaced in Santa Martha, the majority of whom live here are women, children and the elderly,” said the defender.