TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for indigenous peoples and farm workers in southern Mexico, was killed Sunday.
The public prosecutor’s office in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas state, said the religious leader was shot dead by two gunmen as he sat in his van.
Pérez was a member of the Tzotzil indigenous people and had just finished serving a mass when he was attacked. He served the community for 20 years and was known as a conflict negotiator in the mountainous region of Chiapas, where crime, violence and land conflicts are rife.
Pérez also led several marches against violence, which earned him several death threats.
Chipas Governor Rutilio Escandón posted on X that he condemned “the cowardly murder of Father Marcelo Pérez.”
“We will cooperate with all authorities so that his death does not go unpunished and the guilty are brought to justice,” Escandón said.
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