Source La Jornada
Luis Armando Fuentes, community defender and member of the political and social organization Corriente del Pueblo Sol Rojo in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, was gunned down Thursday night (11 April 2019) in his native San Francisco Ixhuatán, representatives of the organization reported.
They pointed out in a letter that according to the first reports, Fuentes, 35, who was a member of the Regional Committee of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec of this social organization, was ambushed when he was traveling on the San Francisco Ixhuatán-Cerro Grande highway.
In this regard, members of Sol Rojo reported that this murder is added to a wave of attacks on different members of this organisation, for which they blamed the state and federal governments for the attacks and lack of security of their members and demanded a transparent investigation to find those responsible.
They also demanded a transparent and independent investigation to find those responsible for this crime, in addition to implementing guarantees for the defence of the territory in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Luis Armando was a municipal agent for his community during the period 2011-2013, during which time he led the struggle of various communities to obtain the promised resources under Ramos 28 and 33 for community development. In 2012, he had participated in the « Payments Against High Rates of Electricity » strike, which today has been extended to more than a dozen communities in the Eastern Zone of the Isthmus.
« Being a fisherman, our comrade helped organise the Fisheries Cooperatives and the so-called Free Fishermen Groups in the Eastern Zone of the Isthmus, together with those who developed important struggles in defense of coastal fishing and against the abuse and corruption of federal authorities, who have undermined the livelihoods of impoverished fishermen, « they indicated.
Sol Rojo is an organization that has recently been established in the Isthmus region, especially in defence of the rights to land and territory and against the high rates being charged for electricity.