Post by syzygy on Jun 24, 2020 8:42:19 GMT
Oaxaca massacre: 15 tortured, killed for territorial control
A dispute over a controversial wind farm might have been a factor as well
Published on Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Fifteen people in Huazantlán del Río, Oaxaca, were tortured, beaten, set on fire and finally killed, authorities in the largely indigenous municipality of San Mateo del Mar announced.
The massacre was carried out Sunday night by six people with ties to organized crime. They ambushed their victims, reportedly while they were stopped at a coronavirus checkpoint.
“The events were orchestrated by these people and backed by someone who claims to be the leader of an organized crime group called Gualterio Escandón, alias ‘Gual Perol,’” and because of his sadism we have lost innocent lives of men and women,” said a statement by local officials.
The victims were attacked after holding a protest in which they claimed that in previous weeks they had been illegally detained. Only five bodies have been identified thus far.
Organized crime seeks to gain control of the area due to its strategic location for the traffic of undocumented immigrants and the storage of stolen fuel, municipal authorities claim.
The attacks may have also been related to a longstanding dispute over a proposed wind farm in the area, which members of the Ikoots indigenous group were able to block in 2012, arguing that its construction would interfere with their subsistence rights and sacred areas. ...
A dispute over a controversial wind farm might have been a factor as well
Published on Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Fifteen people in Huazantlán del Río, Oaxaca, were tortured, beaten, set on fire and finally killed, authorities in the largely indigenous municipality of San Mateo del Mar announced.
The massacre was carried out Sunday night by six people with ties to organized crime. They ambushed their victims, reportedly while they were stopped at a coronavirus checkpoint.
“The events were orchestrated by these people and backed by someone who claims to be the leader of an organized crime group called Gualterio Escandón, alias ‘Gual Perol,’” and because of his sadism we have lost innocent lives of men and women,” said a statement by local officials.
The victims were attacked after holding a protest in which they claimed that in previous weeks they had been illegally detained. Only five bodies have been identified thus far.
Organized crime seeks to gain control of the area due to its strategic location for the traffic of undocumented immigrants and the storage of stolen fuel, municipal authorities claim.
The attacks may have also been related to a longstanding dispute over a proposed wind farm in the area, which members of the Ikoots indigenous group were able to block in 2012, arguing that its construction would interfere with their subsistence rights and sacred areas. ...
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Welcome to the territory of Ikoots! - Kmz placemark attachment point on GSV
Oaxaca massacre - June 21. 2020..kmz (894 B)
