Mexican priest who spoke out against cartel violence killed

[Pelican Press 0]

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******** priest who spoke out against cartel ********* *******

Gunmen in Mexico have shot ***** a ********* priest who was an outspoken advocate for indigenous rights and who had condemned the ********* plaguing his community.

Father Marcelo Pérez was ******* after celebrating Mass in the southern state of Chiapas on Sunday, the prosecutor’s office said.

The Jesuit priest had spent almost two decades fighting for the rights of the Tzotzil indigenous group, of which he was a member.

The Jesuit Order said his ******* should not be “minimised” as an isolated case – insisting it was part of the wave of ********* that organised ****** groups have unleashed in Chiapas.

“Father Marcelo has been a symbol of resistance and support in Chiapas, defencing the dignity, the rights of the people, and the construction of an authentic peace,” the Jesuit Order said.

******** President Claudia Sheinbaum said his ******* was being investigated and would not go unpunished.

Mexico’s bishops’ conference described Father Marcelo as one of the “prophetic voices” that had fought for peace, and said justice in Chiapas had been silenced.

The priest was ******* by two men on a motorcycle, who opened ***** on his vehicle in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas.

The incident happened early on Sunday as Father Marcelo was returning to his parish after saying Mass in the Cuxtitali neighbourhood of the city.

He had been transferred to San Cristóbal de Las Casas after receiving ****** threats in the rural parish where he had previously worked.

The priest had tried to negotiate an end to the ********* caused by clashes between a ********* gang and a vigilante group.

In an interview last month, he had described the southern state of Chiapas as “a time *****”.

“There are many [people who have] disappeared, many who have been kidnapped, many who have been murdered because of the presence of organised ****** here,” he said as he was leading a protest march he described as a “pilgrimage”.

Chiapas has seen a spike in ********* over the past year, with the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel fighting for control of the area.

The ********* groups extort migrants who cross the southern state on their way north to Mexico’s border with the ******* States.

Communities in the region have been hard hit by the *********, sometimes having to hide in their homes for days as shots ring out outside.

But the targeted ******* of an outspoken human rights advocate is seen as a dangerous escalation of the ********* that has been plaguing the community for months.

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#******** #priest #spoke #cartel #********* #*******

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