Military forces in Mexico on Sunday killed the leader of a drug cartel in Jalisco state whose extortion demands and threats have resulted within the closure of greater than 100 churches.
The Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco wounded Rubén Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), who later died while being transported for medical care. The military operation resulted within the deaths of 30 members of the cartel and 70 arrests in seven states and took the lives of not less than 25 members of Mexican military forces.
The CJNG, energetic in 40 countries including within the United States in criminal business ranging beyond cocaine and fentanyl to avocados and oil, is taken into account essentially the most dangerous drug cartel in Mexico. Extorting businesses with “rent fees” and taking on entire agricultural concerns in Mexico, CJNG has terrorized business owners in addition to church leaders.
In retaliation for the operation against CJNG leaders, cartel members on Sunday arrange 252 highways blockades in Jalisco, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato and 16 other states, along with setting vehicle fires and launching attacks on gas stations and businesses, reported Mexico’s security cabinet. The blockades had been dismantled by Monday, in response to the federal government, but schools and transportation in several states remained closed.
Previously several evangelical pastors have been intimidated into paying “protection money” to the CNGJ. In most cases, pastors don’t file reports with authorities for fear of reprisals against their safety and that of their families.
For merely “opening a church,” pastors receive messages demanding large sums of cash similar to: “I’m calling on behalf of the boss. We know where you reside, the address of the church, and what your loved ones does, pastor, so you have got to pay your dues to the cartel’s plaza boss. If you don’t want things to go badly for you, cooperate.”
The cartel has launched massive telephone extortion campaigns, which church leaders have tried to stem by reporting the phone numbers or by changing their cell phone numbers. Others have made the difficult decision to shut their churches because of the constant harassment and threats.
In 2024 alone, greater than 100 evangelical churches closed in Chiapas state because of violence and insecurity generated by organized crime. Reporting harassment by criminal groups, pastors and church members opted to suspend activities.
At that point, the president of the Association of Evangelical Pastors of Tapachula, Gamaliel Fierro Martínez, asserted that the issue was widespread because criminal groups harass the whole population.
“Residents and parishioners have been displaced,” Fierro said. “There are churches that used to carry services throughout the week and now have reduced them to in the future per week with various schedules, since the problem is at its worst within the late afternoon and evening.”
Although the CNGJ initially didn’t harass people of any religion, “especially Catholics,” violence eventually hit Catholic churches. Believing People (Pueblo Creyente) within the municipality of Chicomuselo, Chiapas, reported in 2023 that pastoral agents and parishioners were detained by members of El Maíz group, considered a social base for the CNGJ; 11 members of Believing People of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas were executed on May 13, 2024 reportedly “for refusing to affix any of the organized crime groups.”
Area Catholic religious leaders have denounced human rights abuses, constant threats, intimidation, harassment, dispossession of their natural and material resources, in addition to forced migration, persecution, detentions, disappearances, and murders, with none response from the authorities.
Up to 80 percent of murders of spiritual figures go unpunished in Mexico, in response to data from the Multidimensional Catholic Center (CCM). Between 2019 and 2026, 13 priests were murdered in Mexico. The country is taken into account one of the vital dangerous for religious practice because of organized crime and structural violence.
Priests are targeted by organized crime for working in vulnerable communities, defending human rights, or denouncing insecurity, thus becoming “uncomfortable” figures.
Separate Attack
At the identical time, evangelical Christians proceed to suffer by the hands of villagers practicing Roman Catholicism, tribal religion or a mix of each.
In Chanal, Chiapas state, members of Agua Viva evangelical church were ambushed the night of Jan. 31, they said at a recent press conference.
According to their grievance with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a church member was returning to his community after printing invitations for an evangelistic campaign when he and others were intercepted at about 7:30 p.m. by Alfredo Núñez Gómez and others.
“Without saying a word, they attacked us,” said the unnamed Christian. “They threw a bottle at me, and once we slowed down, he, along together with his son, son-in-law, and wife, beat us.”
The Christians managed to flee and sought help from a witness to a part of the attack, Alfredo López Hernández. The investigation file, which incorporates medical reports, testimonies and audio recordings, also names Marciano Gómez López, the alleged leader of the assailants, as a suspect.
Three women and two men were injured within the assault, including the pastor, who was fighting for his life because of the severity of his wounds. One of the ladies was injured while attempting to defend her husband from the beating.
“What hurts us essentially the most is just not just the beating, it’s the impunity,” certainly one of the complainants said. “In Chanal, professing a faith different from the normal one makes us a goal.
The victims expressed fear not only for his or her physical safety but that of their families and colleagues within the transportation sector, a lot of whom have been silent witnesses to the growing hostility.
They made a forceful appeal to Chiapas Attorney General Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, demanding that his office thoroughly investigate, conduct itself in accordance with the law and assign responsibility without favoritism or impunity.
“We should not condemning anyone prematurely; we simply want what happened to be clarified and for the law to be applied,” the group’s legal advisor stated. “The authorities’ response can be crucial in determining whether there’s equal justice in Chiapas or whether certain people have the suitable to assault and intimidate just because of our beliefs.”
This latest case of spiritual intolerance in Chanal, a predominantly Catholic municipality with strong traditions and customs, raised international alarm in regards to the fragility of spiritual freedom in Mexico’s indigenous regions.
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