Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged Monday that authorities had to set up camps for displaced people after some 4,200 residents fled a town in the southern state of Chiapas.
Tila residents fled over the weekend after armed gangs shot everywhere and burned many homes last week, according to state prosecutors. This is likely the largest mass displacement in Chiapas since 1997.
Some residents said they spent days trapped in their homes before Army troops and state police showed up this weekend to allow them to leave.
Photos distributed by state authorities show people fleeing with only a purse on their shoulder, or sometimes a small backpack or shoulder bag.
Mr. López Obrador described the assault as “a conflict between the same people” from the town of Tila, an apparent reference to a long-standing land dispute between farmers.
Many people spent three days in their homes, too afraid to go out, before federal forces arrived, said Tila resident Víctor Gómez.
“Many people left with what they had on their backs, without money, without clothes, they left behind all their belongings, many domestic animals remained in Tila because they could not be evacuated” , he lamented.
But observers said criminal gangs and political interests were behind the clash.
The Digna Ochoa human rights center said a group calling itself the “Autonomos” (the Autonomous) was behind the violence and was linked to drug trafficking.
“Things have calmed down”
At least two people were killed and at least 17 buildings were burned last week, according to state prosecutors.
The gangs have also been accused of extorting protection payments from residents and setting up roadblocks.
President López Obrador assured that food was distributed in the camps. He said “things have calmed down” and the government now wanted to start negotiations with the groups “to reach an agreement so that people can return to their communities”.
Battles between rival drug cartels have affected several municipalities in Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border, as the region is a major route for drug and migrant smuggling. Mr. López Obrador has long sought to downplay the violence in Chiapas, accusing those who write about it of “sensationalism.”
In 1994, rebels from the indigenous Zapatista movement staged a brief armed uprising in Chiapas, and thousands of people were displaced as a result of fighting between the rebels and the army.
In 1997, the massacre of 45 indigenous villagers in Acteal, triggered by land and political conflicts, also caused thousands to flee.
The state also saw slower, but years-long, evictions of residents of some communities due to land or religious disputes.