On Monday, the town hall of San Mateo Del Mar in Oaxaca, a region known for its Ikoot population, has confirmed the massacre of at least 15 indigenous residents as a result of political-electoral conflict between the municipal head and other communities.

People documented the aggression this past Sunday, near the municipality La Reforma. According to authorities, the victims were tortured and burned alive, two women among them.

The municipality’s government has stated in a public statement that the victims who were lynched and burned originated from Huazantlán del Río. They stated that the indigenous deaths were direct consequences of violence that has been escalating in the area since Sunday.

The conflict has continued since the municipal elections, however it escalated on Sunday after a confrontation in a sanitary filter against COVID-19 that was installed in one of the municipal agencies.

According to eyewitnesses, when people were stopped due to the sanitary filter, they noted that the road was blocked with tires that were on fire. Moments later, men who had their faces covered appeared and started firing guns at them several times. Apart from gunshots these people also tortured and burned their victims alive.

The two parties involved in this conflict were Bernardo Ponce’s (mayor of San Mateo Del Mar) followers and auxiliary authorities at do not recognize him as their municipal leader. Following Ponce’s election there were numerous attempts of violence and some voting boxes were burned.

Ponce has since cast responsibility for these actions onto an armed group led by seven people, including an agent for the Huazantlán del Río municipality named José Luis Chávez Salinas.

An official document has said that 15 citizens were tortured, burned alive, and assassinated, including 2 women who were only practicing their right to peaceful protest. They were claiming that their rights had been violated in past weeks, having been arrested and detained against their own will by municipal agents.

The document goes on to say that the armed group didn’t only lash out against those defending their rights, but they also rushed aggressively into the homes of several women who today are included as fatal victims. These women, alongside their younger daughters, had suffered prior violations to their rights by being unjustly locked up.

It has also been stated that these women who were aggravated had solicited precautionary measures regarding their human rights, however they never received them.

Authorities go on to explain that the problem began when people impersonating Huazantlán authorities began blocking roads and passage to the Santa Cruz agency, wanting to destabilize and create conflict in the region.

“Pero ahora sus intereses han escalado a un grado muy grave, en el que ya no solo se trata de hechos violentos, sino de genocidio y feminicidio.”

City Hall

Translation:

“But now their interests have escalated to a very grave degree, where it isn’t only about violent acts, but about genocide and femicide.”

City Hall has said that these attacks were partially dispersed thanks to the National Guard, “avoiding any further losses”. The mayor has said that even with the help, they have not been able to completely contain the situation, rescuing only two indigenous citizens named Adán N and Rosario N.

The group that is against the mayor, congregated in the Union of Indigenous Agencies and Communities, has said that responsibility belongs to the mayor and his followers, not to themselves.

This group had previously denounced systemic violence on Bernardino Ponce’s behalf, after a group of people deprived auxiliary authorities of their liberty and went as far as to assassinate the substitute agent for Huazantlán.

Oaxaca governor Alejandro Murat confirmed that there are fatal victims and instructed for the leaders of the Department of Security and the Government General to go to an indigenous community to bring support to other victims and reestablish security in the region.

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