Self-Defense Group Emerges After Criminal Attacks In Chiapas

"Sol Prendido" and "HEARST' for Borderland Beat

A new self-defense group called “Gente de la Selva” or People of the Jungle, has announced its presence and its support for the group La Machete who operate in the state of Chiapas. 

Pantelhó is a town and municipality in the highlands area of the state of Chiapas, in the northern region of the state. 

On September 29, 2021, journalist Gabriela Coutiño uploaded the following video to her twitter account. The video shows an armed group of men who announce they are an auto defensa, or self defense group, in the municipality of Pantelhó, in the state of Chiapas.

Video Credit: Gabriela Coutiño

In the video, they say the following, as translate by Sol Prendido: 

This is a communication for the three levels of government. We are the mob of the jungle, of the forests and the woodlands. And this communique is to let everyone know that the self proclaimed self defense group El Machete is not alone. We, from the jungle, are here to support them. 

We support the Los Machetes group in the armed uprising against the narco government of municipal president Delia Janeth Velasco Flores, along with her husband Raquel Trujillo Morales, that operates in the town of Pantelhó. 

They’ve been financing the organized crime that is currently being led by Talli Herrera. We know for a fact that organized crime led by Talli Herrera has caused a lot of pain in this municipality.

For this very reason we have risen to support the Grupo Machete. Have courage Grupo Machete. We’re here to back you up. Therefore, whatever attempt is made against the self defense group Grupo Machete, we will be here to give them support. 

Have courage Grupo Machete. Don’t back down. We will be here for you.

Who is El Machete?

The group Autodefensas del Pueblo El Machete, often shortened simply to Los Machetes or El Machete, is a relatively new self-defense group in the state of Chiapas. 

They are most well known for having, in the early morning hours of approximately 4:00 am on July 7, 2021, entered and seized control of the town of Pantelhó. 

Their stated reason for why they chose to take over the town was that they wished to combat the organized crime group which was plaguing the citizens of Pantelhó, especially the Tsotsil indigenous people of the community. They later stated they did this "not to attack the town, but to expel the hitmen, the drug traffickers, the organized crime.”

They also alleged that the municipal government was colluding with the organized crime group “Los Herreras”.

In an open letter they released on July 10, 2021, members of El Machete also alleged this issue was not new and in fact had been going on for nearly 20 years. They pointed back to the term of Austreberto Herrera Abarca, in 2002, as the starting point at which organized crime began to infiltrate the local government.  

Who is Austreberto Herrera Abarca?

Austreberto Herrera Abarca was a municipal judge for Pantelhó. He allegedly used his position to control all the drug trafficking in the area, employed violence to those that opposed him and used his influence to place his family members in important positions of power within the local government. 

In 2018, Austreberto Herrera Abarca supported the PRD candidate for municipal presidency, Santos López Hernández.

The Machete members claimed, in their letter, that "he has killed approximately 200 people; at the beginning we denounced, but the Public Ministry never took our complaints into account and some of our comrades were killed for denouncing the violence we are experiencing." 

These claims are not baseless because on August 3, 2019, the State Attorney General's Office (FGE), arrested Austreberto Herrera Abarca on charges related to the homicide of Edgar Eleazar Herrera Trejo, 33, and Carlos Trejo Hernández, 54. 

According to news publisher El Ciudadano, municipal president Santos López Hernández promoted the capture and imprisonment of Austreberto Herrera Abarca despite having won his position only a year earlier due largely to Herrera Abarca’s support.

But in 2020, Santos López Hernández was accused and found guilty of violence and abuse against women who worked alongside him in city hall.  Over 11 millions of pesos were found to be missing from the municipal coffers following his arrest. 

Who are Delia Yaneth Velasco Flores and Raquel Trujillo Morales?

Delia Yaneth Velasco Flores was the municipal president for Pantelhó. Santos López Hernández’s 2020 arrest left the position of municipal president open and Delia Yaneth Velasco Flores, municipal trustee, was appointed as the interim municipal president until proper elections could be held to find a replacement for Santos. 

Delia’s husband Raquel Trujillo Morales ran in an electoral race for the municipal presidency and won, although there is widespread speculation from self defense groups and citizens alike that the election was rigged in his favor.

Self defense groups in the area alleged that after Austreberto Herrera Abarca and Santos López Hernández were arrested, the Los Herrera crime group reorganized itself under the command of Ausreberto’s son Daily de los Santos Herrera Gutiérrez. They say that Daily de los Santos and the husband and wife duo of Delia and Raquel were colluding together now and that Los Herreras still ruled Pantelhó. 

On August 7, 2021, Delia Janeth and the seven members of the municipal council were forced to present their resignations at the request of the Chiapas government. Her husband Raquel still stood to assume the position of municipal president on October 1, 2021, however. 

And on October 1, Raquel Trujillo Morales did officially get inaugurated into the position however he had to do so within a hotel room in a location west of Chiapas capital city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, far from the town he will supposedly govern of Pantelhó. 

There are widespread protests in Pantelhó from citizens who reject Raquel Trujillo Morales’s win, believing it was rigged. As well as multiple threats on Raquel’s life, coming from self defense groups, should he ever chose to step foot in  Pantelhó again.

And El Machete and Gente de la Selva are not alone as on October 3, 2021, a new video has emerged in which a third self defense calling themselves "Fuerzas Armadas De Simojovel" has expressed their support for the two aforementioned groups in their fight against Los Herreras. In the video the group says largely the same, a general solidarity message for El Machete.

Video translation is as follows:

Simojovel, Chiapas. September 30,2021. The armed forces of Simojovel announces the new independent force of a political party to the general people, to the citizens of Simojovel, to all the communities. This message is addressed to the municipal president Gilberto Martínez Andrade and the groups who currently lead that we know that we have identified them. It is well known that in previous administrations the municipal presidents did what they wanted. And they all went unpunished. But now we have formed the people's armed forces. In order to demand respect for our human rights. If we have not entered the town, it’s because of respect. As well as to safeguard the integrity of the citizenry. But we will soon take action if our demands are not met. 1: We want respect for our indigenous brothers. 2: There will no longer be anymore withdrawals of resources from the village. 3: We will not allow hitmen or armed narco traffickers who intimidate the townspeople. There will be zero tolerance for the clandestine sale of drugs. 5: There will no longer be anymore deaths on the streets of Simojovel either. 6: We require worthy medical attention for the general public. 7: Public security will be here for the towns and not for delinquents. If these just demands can't be met. We, the armed forces of this town will act with consequences against the evil municipal government here in Simojovel, Chiapas. Todays date is September 30,2021. We are for peace, for Justice, and for the tranquility of the Simojovel townspeople. We are the armed militia of Simojovel.

Sources: La Jornada, Proceso, Insight Crime, Chiapas Paralelo, La Opinión, Infobae, El Ciudadano, Televisa News, El Imparcial de Chiapas, Diario de Chiapas, Schools For Chiapas