On the 17th of February 2017, Antonio Santiago González was driving in his car towards the village of  Carrizal Copala, when he was attacked by several gunmen armed with assault rifles, who riddled his car with bullets, wounding him several times. He died at the scene. Antonio was a teacher and trade unionist and a member of Section 22 branch of the National Union of Workers in Education (Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) in Oaxaca.

Antonio was also the leader of an indigenous organisation working to promote the right to education and a decent standard of living for indigenous people.

A spokesperson for Section 22 called on the state authorities to take action to investigate this latest in a wave of killings of teachers in the region, saying that unless the state took effective  measures the Union would not hesitate to initiate strike action.