• ARREST: State authorities in Guerrero state arrested Marco Antonio García Morales -the chief of staff to the mayor of Tlapa de Comonfort (pop. 46,000)- linking him to the disappearance and murder of indigenous Nahua human rights defender, Arnulfo Cerón.
• GRAVE: Back in November, the body of Cerón had been found in a clandestine grave causing grave condemnation by many in the international community. At the time 9 alleged members of a local gang had been arrested in connection with the crime which led to the arrest of García Morales.
• TARGETS: According to numbers gathered by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Mexico, a total of 18 human rights defenders have been killed in Mexico this year; this in addition to 11 journalists also murdered.
• CRISIS: “You could even say that there is a crisis among criminals (in the Tlapa area) and that now they are looking for new ways to finance their illegal activities, through theft, kidnapping, extortion”, said Abel Barrera, from the Tlachinollan NGO, according to Guerrero media.
