Hundreds mourn Catholic priest and Indigenous peace activist killed in southern Mexico

By RAÚL VERA and ISABEL MATEOS
Updated 7:55 PM CDT, October 21, 2024

SAN ANDRES LARRAINZAR, Mexico (AP) — Hundreds gathered Monday to mourn Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers who was killed in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas.

It was a killing that many say was a tragedy foretold, in a state where drug cartels have caused thousands of people to flee their homes.

Mourners gathered in San Andres Larrainzar, near the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, where Pérez was killed on Sunday.

Pérez, a leading activist for peace in the violence-torn state, was from San Andrés Larrainzar. A mass in his honor Monday was held in Spanish and Tzotzil, the Indigenous language he spoke.

More:
https://apnews.com/article/mexico-violence-chiapas-priest-activist-killed-91babd8eb739a110888d69b5d1afef86





Father Marcelo Pérez shows a monstrance to a resident of Simojovel, in Mexico's Chiapas state, June 13, 2020. Father Pérez, who ministered in Indigenous regions rife with territorial conflicts and later denounced drug cartel violence, was shot dead Oct. 20, 2024, by two assailants on a motorcycle as he drove away from the Guadalupe church in San Cristóbal de las Casas, according to Mexican media reports. (OSV News photo/courtesy David Agren)



Father Pérez is wearing the image of the El Salvadorean martyred Archbishop, Óscar Romero, hated for years by the US-supported Salvadorean government, who lived with intimate knowledge the right-wing intended to murder him for years. Here's his Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero#Early_life

(It would appear Father Pérez believed he, also, was living with a violent death sentence, as well. Courageous man.)


Here's an article on the catastrophic assassination of the Archbishop in El Salvador, whose multitude of mourners were gunned down in a massacre by gov't soldiers in the courtyard outside the cathedral after his funeral:

https://kellogg.nd.edu/archbishop-oscar-romerop


- click link for image -

https://calisphere.org/clip/500x500/27304/26f289fcb16bf1fbbc4ef0932a840429

"Blowtorch Bob" Roberto D'Aubuisson, nicknamed for his favorite interrogation technique