Indigenous Land Dispute Leaves 7 Dead and Several Missing in Oaxaca

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

News of this land dispute has dominated national news since this past weekend. So far, authorities continue to search for residents who are reported as missing and may be dead. 16 members of the Oaxaca Attorney General's Office were "retained" for several hours by armed residents.

An armed dispute between residents of Sola de Vega and Santa María Sola, two municipalities in the Sierra Sur region of Oaxaca, left at least seven people killed and several missing, according to a report from local authorities.

"Five dead are from Santa Maria Sola. There are many more missing. We do not know anything about them, and we continue to wait for authorities to confirm if these missing people are dead", a resident of the area told reporters.

A community leader told reporters that the shootout was due to a land dispute between both towns. Santa Maria Sola has a rural community known as El Guayabo, but some residents of El Guayabo claim their community actually belongs to Sola de Vega. This has caused dispute between both municipalities.

The community leader said on Friday that Santa Maria Sola residents held a meeting and then headed to El Guayabo, where they attacked its inhabitants. Sol de Vega residents soon joined the melee and several people were killed.

The Oaxaca Public Security Secretariat (SSPO) that both municipalities had people hostage, including 16 members of Oaxaca's Attorney General's Office. Many of them have been released following the intervention of more security forces.

Background

Territorial disputes in Oaxaca have cost the lives of hundreds of people in recent years. The Oaxacan government says that there are currently more than 400 unsolved territorial disputes in the state. Most of these disputes are in Central Valley, Mixteca, and Sierra Sur regions.

Over eighty percent of all land in Oaxaca belongs to ejidos, or agrarian communities, and is communally owned. In addition, it is often unclear who owns a parcel of land. The exponential growth of towns have made historical boundaries very difficult to identify.

Efraín Solano Alinarez, head of the organization Unidad, Identidad y Raices de Oaxaca (Unity, Identity and Roots of Oaxaca, or Unir), said in a 2019 interview that Oaxaca is under "permanent conflict" and that resolving the inherent flaws of Mexico's ejido land ownership is crucial to bringing peace to the area.

To solve the conflicts, the Unir chief said, the records of state and federal authorities need to be consulted to determine the rightful owners of disputed land. Solano also said that more resources need to be allocated to mediating disputes.

This recent land conflict occurred in the Sierra Sur region. The region has over 70 municipality, most of them poor and indigenous. 

To oversee that process, he recommended the establishment of a dedicated government group. The Unir chief also said that the presence of foreign companies in parts of Oaxaca, especially the Isthmus of Tehuantepec where several wind farms have been developed, has also raised the ire of landowners and led to conflicts.

Solano added that the federal government’s isthmus trade corridor project, which includes the modernization of the railway between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and new mining developments could make existing land conflicts worse or create new ones.

President López Obrador says the trade corridor and other projects such as the Maya Train will bring significant economic and social benefits to the south and southeast.

But Solano warned that “in Oaxaca, the triumph or failure of the president’s social goals will depend on the response he provides to agrarian conflicts.”

Sources: Proceso; Milenio; Informador; El Universal; MND