Drug cartels have “taken over” regions of the Mexican state of Chiapas (south) due to the inaction of authorities, denouncing the Catholic Church, while the video of a caravan of hitmen parading before the region’s residents last Sunday sparked outrage took care. social media.social.

“We are in a state of siege, in a social psychosis, with narco-blockades using civil society as a human barrier,” the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas (Chiapas) said in a statement released Saturday.

Hours later, videos circulated on social networks showing some 250 people on the side of the road watching the passage of 15 flashy trucks, armed and hand-armoured, and where men dressed as commandos travel around with long weapons in hand, as many cheer and celebrate, shouting, “Long live Sinaloa!”

Local media reported that the parade was carried out by hitmen from the Sinaloa Cartel and took place in the community of San Gregorio Chamic, in the mountains of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala.

No state authority has yet responded to the Church’s complaints, not even to the videos.

“The silence of the authorities (…) shows us a failed state that is overwhelmed and/or in collusion with criminal groups,” the diocese added in the statement.

Meanwhile, claims from opposition politicians, security and human rights activists and citizens in general were made public this Sunday.

“In broad daylight (…) they welcome the Sinaloa cartel. (…) Consequences of the failed government in the face of organized crime,” wrote opposition senator Emilio Álvarez Icaza on X (formerly Twitter).

The Chiapas office of powerful business association Coparmex also denounced on Saturday that disappearances, extortions, roadblocks and killings in the area have affected “the service and delivery of goods” and caused other damage such as the suspension of classes.

“We urgently request (the government) an immediate action program to strengthen security in Chiapas, with a focus on the mountain area,” Coparmex said.

The mountain communities of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, have been key border crossings for the trafficking of drugs, people and goods for decades and are violently contested by the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartels, according to expert data.

After years of domination by the Sinaloan mafia, the CJNG managed to conquer territories, supported by the creation of an armed wing known as “El Maíz”, whose members are in many cases recruited under threat. (JO)