Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tabasco (Agenzia Fides) - The 68 families of Guatemalan refugees who since August 23 are in the municipality of Tenosique, Tabasco (Mexico), after being evicted from their village in Guatemala by the army and police, have asked the government of Guatemala to fulfill their request for relocation, because now they are faced with adverse environmental conditions, inadequate food and water, which affect their survival in that area of Mexico. Aroldo López Morales, one of the representatives of the displaced, said the government of his country has backtracked after having offered each family ten acres of land near the border (Belize).
According to information sent to Fides, the priest Tomas Gonzalez Castillo, head of the house "la 72" and the Human Rights Center based in Tenosique, said after three months since the eviction, "the humanitarian situation of displaced persons has become a tragedy". The priest said that during a visit to the families during the weekend, found that drinking water is lacking, and even the small river that passes in that area is dry. The problem has got worse, explained father Gonzalez, because both the Mexican government and the government of Guatemala are not very supportive and have provided very little humanitarian aid.
Interviewed in San Cristobal de las Casas, Aroldo Morales reported that soldiers and police evicted them from their land and their homes they had occupied since 1999 in the city of La Nueva Esperanza, the municipality of La Libertad, Peten Department (Guatemala) , on the ground that they had occupied a prohibited area, the Sierra Natural Protected Area of Lacandon. "We fled to avoid being attacked, after the soldiers had destroyed our homes and our property", he said. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 01/12/2011)
