Aguas Blancas massacre
Encyclopedia
The Aguas Blancas Massacre was a massacre that took place on 28 June 1995, in Aguas Blancas, Guerrero
, Mexico
, in which, according to the official version, seventeen farmers were killed and 21 injured. Members of the Organización Campesina de la Sierra Sur (South Mountain Range Farmer Organization) were en route to Atoyac de Álvarez
to attend a protest march demanding the release of Gilberto Romero Vázquez, a peasant activist arrested more than a month before (and who has never appeared since). They were also marching to demand drinking water, schools, hospitals and roads, among other things. According to survivors, they were ambushed by the motorized police and several were shot point blank. Some of the events were captured on film, by the police themselves. Weapons were subsequently placed in the dead farmers' hands and the police said they acted in self-defense.
One of the results of this incident was the creation of the Popular Revolutionary Army
, a leftist guerrilla organization.
).
Guerrero
Guerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, in which, according to the official version, seventeen farmers were killed and 21 injured. Members of the Organización Campesina de la Sierra Sur (South Mountain Range Farmer Organization) were en route to Atoyac de Álvarez
Atoyac de Álvarez
Atoyac de Álvarez is a city and seat of the municipality of Atoyac de Álvarez, in the state of Guerrero, south-western Mexico....
to attend a protest march demanding the release of Gilberto Romero Vázquez, a peasant activist arrested more than a month before (and who has never appeared since). They were also marching to demand drinking water, schools, hospitals and roads, among other things. According to survivors, they were ambushed by the motorized police and several were shot point blank. Some of the events were captured on film, by the police themselves. Weapons were subsequently placed in the dead farmers' hands and the police said they acted in self-defense.
One of the results of this incident was the creation of the Popular Revolutionary Army
Popular Revolutionary Army
The Popular Revolutionary Army or Ejército Popular Revolucionario is a leftist guerrilla movement in Mexico. Though it operates mainly in the state of Guerrero, it has also conducted operations in Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Tlaxcala and Veracruz....
, a leftist guerrilla organization.
Planning of the massacre
Allegedly, the ex-secretary general of Guerrero, José Rubén Robles Catalán, and Gustavo Olea Godoy, head of the state police, were waiting in a helicopter some meters away, and took off when the first shot was fired. The governor had before had a conversation with María de la Luz Núñez Ramos, saying measures had been taken so that the group would not reach Atoyac and that they would stop them by whatever means necessary. After the massacre he had another conversation with her, saying "They came for war, and war they got. Are we, or are we not the authority?", However, it is said to have been planned by the governor Rubén Figueroa Alcocer (PRIInstitutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...
).