AMERICA/MEXICO - Prayer for peace in Baja California Sur: 900 dead in three years

Friday, 24 November 2017 violence   human rights   peace  

Baja California Sur (Agenzia Fides) – To pray for peace and families, victims of violence: yesterday November 23, at least one hundred priests from the five municipalities and more than 300 people gathered in San Martin di La Paz parish, for a celebration led by the Bishop of the Diocese of La Paz en la Baja California Sur (Mexico), Mgr. Miguel Ángel Alba Díaz.
During the Eucharistic celebration, the Bishop invited to remain silent while on a screen the number of people killed in the last three years was being projected: "2014-2017, about 900 people were killed due to the fury of human barbarism in Baja California Sur". During the prayer of the faithful, those present prayed for families "victims of violence", for those who lost their lives in this context, "for all the innocent who died for violence and for the 900 deaths in our area". Finally the Bishop invited all to follow him in silence for a procession around the temple with lit candles.
The main reason for this celebration was the terrible murder of state lawyer Silvestre De la Toba Camacho. The Bishop said he would not release any further statements about it because society is tired of "sterile speeches" and has asked for the problem to be resolved from the root. On Monday, November 20, Silvestre De la Toba Camacho, president of the State Human Rights Commission in Baja California Sur (CEDHBCS), in the northwest of the country, was shot dead by a group of assassins while he was in the center of the city, along with his family. Even his son Fernando died while his wife and daughter were seriously injured.
The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) condemned the crime and ordered the authorities to take precautionary measures to protect the victim's family. There has been an intense wave of violence in Baja California Sur in the last two years because of disputes between criminal groups who want to control the area and the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most powerful drug traffickers. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 24/11/2017)


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