Community defender priest assassinated in Chiapas

The murder of priest Marcelo Perez Perez, or jtatik Marcelo, as he was known in the region of Los Altos de Chiapas, on October 20, shocks the communities of southern Mexico and exposes the violence against social leaders, defenders of life, human rights defenders and environmentalists. The 50 year old clergyman had been threatened with death on multiple occasions for trying to find peace in various conflicts between communities, mining companies and organized crime groups operating in the area. 

Organizations such as the Mexican Episcopal Conference and the Regional Committee for the Promotion of Community Health (CRPSC), a Mesoamerican space that fights and promotes Health and Life, an affiliated network of the PHM in Latin America, condemned this act of violence, demanded justice and a stop to the spiral of death in these communities of Chiapas and the region.

Download the statement in Spanish