Violence Is Overwhelming Chiapas
Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas, birthplace of the Zapatistas and once a safer part of the country, has seen a dramatic increase in violence. A scholar from Chiapas explains how cartel conflict and a glut of weapons are creating a perfect storm.
Locals seen next to the memorial and place where a young mother of four was killed in downtown San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, February 26, 2022. (Artur Widak / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
For many years, the southern Mexican state of Chiapas thought itself to be free of the violence that has plagued the other end of the country. Not anymore.
With the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels engaged in a fierce dispute for control of the border with Guatemala and its lucrative trade in migrants and merchandise, the violence produced by that conflict is threatening to set off a tinderbox of social strife among a heavily armed population. In the face of this mounting threat, both governments and the Zapatista movement have struggled to respond.
Kurt Hackbarth sat down with anthropologist and columnist Leonardo Toledo to analyze the dynamics at play in the troubled state.
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