Ramón Hernández Nevárez and his son Anselmo Hernández Andujo, members of the peasant organization El Barzón, were shot dead in the Santa Clara area of the municipality of Namiquipa on 13 June 2018. They were returning home from Chihuahua city, where they had a meeting to resolve water issues with the director of Government Rural Development, Martín Solís, when they were intercepted by armed men who shot them.

Ramón and Anselmo were agrarian leaders in their community, dealing with demands and complaints in agrarian matters, and in latter years they joined the fight to defend the water in the Río del Carmen basin and fought against the presence of armed groups who control the area. Their murders are added to those of the barzonistas Ismael and Manuelita Solorio which occurred on 22 October 2012 and to that of Alberto Almeida which took place in Juárez city on 24 February 2015.

In a statement El Barzón complained that Ramón Hernández and his family had received threats a few weeks previously, which were brought before the authorities, leading to an operation taking place which resulted in weapons and tactical equipment being confiscated and one person being detained. This person was later released by a federal judge. The organization believes that the murders of the two men were committed in retaliation for the complaints made and because of the release of the detained person. The organization stated that “organized crime still operates with complete freedom and even controls different areas”. It demanded an expedient, exhaustive and impartial investigation with due diligence to establish the facts and punish those responsible and that security be guaranteed in the area by the permanent presence of public security forces to protect the people who live there.

Source: Sin Embargo / La Jornada