Gunmen in Mexico have killed a Catholic priest who was an outspoken advocate for indigenous rights and decried the violence plaguing his community.
Father Marcelo Perez was killed Sunday after celebrating Mass in the southern state of Chiapas, the prosecutor’s office said.
The Jesuit priest has spent nearly two decades fighting for the rights of the Zozier indigenous group, of which he is a member.
The Jesuits said his murder should not be “dismissed” as an isolated case, insisting it was part of a wave of violence unleashed by organized crime gangs in Chiapas.
“Father Marcelo has always been a symbol of resistance and support in Chiapas, defending the dignity and rights of his people and establishing true peace,” the Jesuits said.
Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum said his murder was under investigation and would not go unpunished.
The Mexican bishops’ conference described Father Marcelo as one of the “prophetic voices” fighting for peace and said justice had been suppressed in Chiapas.
The priest was shot and killed by two men on a motorcycle in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas.
The incident occurred early on Sunday when Fr Marcelo returned to the parish after celebrating Mass in the city’s Cuxtitali neighborhood.
He was transferred to San Cristóbal de las Casas after receiving death threats at the rural parish where he had previously worked.
The priest had tried to negotiate an end to the violence caused by clashes between criminal groups and vigilante groups.
In an interview last month, he described the southern state of Chiapas as “a ticking time bomb”.
“there are many [people who have] Because of the organized crime here, many people have disappeared, many have been kidnapped, many have been murdered,” he said as he led a protest march he called a “pilgrimage.”
Violence has surged in Chiapas over the past year as the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel battle for control of the region.
These criminal groups extort migrants traveling through southern states heading north to the Mexico-U.S. border.
Communities in the area have been hard hit by the violence, sometimes forcing them to hide in their homes for days as gunfire rang out outside.
But the targeted murder of an outspoken human rights advocate is seen as a dangerous escalation in the violence that has plagued the community for months.
