Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico – Father Marcelo Perez, a prominent human rights activist in Mexico, was shot to death Sunday in an attack in southeastern Chiapas state, local authorities said.
Perez had just celebrated Mass and was returning to his parish in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas when two men on a motorcycle fired at his vehicle, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Perez’s work on human rights has been recognized by international organizations. He was also a leading voice in denouncing the drug trafficking that is rife in the region.
The office in Mexico of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the Indigenous priest’s killing and called for an “exhaustive” investigation.
In a brief statement, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters that her government had opened a probe and was in contact with Catholic authorities.
Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar Martinez, who presides over the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, lamented the murder and said the church would continue to seek “peace with truth and justice.”
In 2021, Perez supported the El Machete People’s Self-Defense Group, formed in rural communities to defend against attacks by organized crime gangs. He served as a mediator between the government and the group.
The following year, as unconfirmed reports surfaced that he was about to be detained by order of the prosecutor’s office, international rights groups including Amnesty International came to his defense, denouncing any attempt to portray him as a criminal.
A number of religious figures have been murdered in the extreme violence linked to gangs that has plagued parts of Mexico.
In 2022, the killing of Jesuit priests Javier Campos Morales and Joaquin Cesar Mora Salazar in their church in northern Chihuahua state prompted particular outrage.
Mexico has seen more than 450,000 violent deaths since a controversial military anti-drug operation was launched in 2006, according to official figures.
