The Santa Fe, Veracruz Grave

The latest report of the exhumation work in the collective grave of Colinas de Santa Fe in Veracruz highlights that most of the remains found in the grave are of young high school and college aged men and women.  The search groups narrate that they haven’t walked through half of the land and they don’t stop from discovering corpses.  People continue to disappear in Veracruz, in the context of the war declared by the delinquency against the local government.  240 bodies from 170 clandestine graves have been exhumed.

By: Ignacio Carvajal García | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Mexico City/Veracruz, March 7, 2017— Blogexpediente had access to the latest report on exhumation work in the collective graves of Colinas de Santa Fe, and what stands out the most of the 240 bodies exhumed so far is that they mostly consist of young people.

The last cutoff on the works in the collective graves of Colinas de Santa Fe state that 240 bodies from 117 clandestine graves have been exhumed.

And in the middle of the cluster of bodies, the mothers of the collective Solecito, who are actively working in this grave, what has surprised them is the high number of young people among the victims.

“Most of them are young people, women and guys, although people with gray hairs have also been found, despite the advanced state of decomposition, that detail has been observed,” said a source close to the work on the grave, at the request of anonymity.

Among the findings of the various graves, which show the slaughter of young people; clothing, footwear, and intimate clothing corresponding to the ages of 14 and 25 are also abundant.

The information that this medium accessed shows that the finding of bodies far from diminishing increases, and these graves are not even half of the terrain.

The last cutoff on the works in the collective graves of Colinas de Santa Fe state that 240 bodies from 117 clandestine graves have been exhumed. Photo: Cuartoscuro Archive

They consist of 125 graves located until the beginning of March, of which 177 have been worked on, which have resulted in the findings of 240 skulls, which is equal to the number of victims, more than half, correspond to boys who were high school or college aged.

Forced Disappearance in Veracruz

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

The state of Veracruz is one of the states of Mexico whose residents have suffered through the disappearances of their relatives.  Since December 2010, the local government has recorded more than 650 cases according to official figures from the National Public Security System [SNSP].  But in a state in which victims blame the authorities for their complicity, the testimonies of the bereaved women agree that the black figure of this terrible phenomenon, associated with organized crime, is very high.

The presence of Los Zetas and its rivals, such as The Knights Templar Cartel and The Jalisco New Generation Cartel have led to the murder of hundreds or thousands of people whose bodies have been hidden in at least 144 illegal graves recorded by the Attorney General of Mexico (PGR) between 2006 and 2013.  Because of this, the magnitude of the crisis that the state lives through could be worse than what we know so far.

Although the disappearances have been counted from years ago, it wasn’t until 2016 when the first public search brigades were organized in the state which soon found dozens of clandestine graves in several cities in Veracruz.

VICE News interviews the women who have been part of these committees to find out what their efforts are in finding their missing relatives.

On December 1, 2016, Miguel Ã?ngel Yunes Linares (PAN) took office as the new governor of Veracruz, a state marked by the economic crisis and corruption left by his predecessor, Javier Duarte (PRI), who is currently a fugitive from the Mexican justice system.

Source: Vice

Veracruz: Six Bodies Left Inside A Van

By: Noé Zavaleta | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Xalapa, Veracruz— The bodies of six men were abandoned inside a van at the side of the Isla-Santiago Tuxtla State Road, at the height of La Ceibilla Bridge. 

This new act of violence in southern Veracruz was reported by farmers in the area, which gave notice to the delegation of the ministry of public security and the regional state prosecutor.

Employees of the directorate of forensic services and of the forensic medical service carried out the removal of the bodies which were inside a red Ford Windstar, with Tabasco state license plates WSR-25-87.

Until this afternoon, the victims had not been identified, it was only disclosed that their hands were tied up with duct tape and various beatings and signs of torture.

Veracruz violence escalated to such an extent that just during the weekend, 23 violent deaths were reported, allegedly linked to organized crime.

6 Tortured Bodies Found In Veracruz

By: Noé Zavaleta | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Xalapa, Veracruz— The bodies of six people were found this morning in the ranch Los Limones, located in the village of Tenenexpan, in the municipality of Manlio Fabio Altamirano, near the rural area of the port of Veracruz.

The report from the naval police and of the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Veracruz sent to Xalapa indicates that “anonymous calls” gave notice that the bodies of six people with signs of torture and several gunshot wounds were found on a dirt road, naked, and with their hands tied.

Members of the naval police, civil force, and the forensic medical service cordoned off the concrete bridge Limones-Tenenexpan in order to carry out rigorous measures and to lift the bodies.

Near the site, various cartridges and abundant traces of blood were found, so it’s presumed that the victims were executed at the same site.

The remains are already at the forensic medical service (SEMEFO) waiting to be identified.

Yesterday, two youths who were reported as kidnapped 10 days ago in southern Veracruz, appeared executed in a safe house in the port of Coatzacoalcos.

Roberto Cristián Luis Guillén and José Luis Sánchez Guillén, both 27, were found face down, with ribbon tied at their hands and feet, with traces of multiple blows to the body.  As they didn’t find any gunshot wounds, ministerial authorities presume that they died of asphyxiation.

Source: Proceso

Veracruz Journalist Assassinated; 17 So Far During Duarte Administration

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Journalist Pedro Tamayo Rosas was gunned down outside his home in front of his wife and two children in Tierra Blanca, Veracruz.  So far during the administration of Governor Javier Duarte, there have been 17 people who worked in the media that have been assassinated.

According to initial investigations, two men arrived at Pedro’s home, who then greeted him and then gunned him down, fleeing the scene.  Tamayo Rosas was taken to the hospital where he died.

At the site of the attack, police found several 9mm shell casings and tracks from the car that the assailants fled in.

The 45 year old journalist’s work involved documenting cases of violence in the region and wrote under a pseudonym in En la Línea de Fuego.  He also worked with the newsoutlets Al Calor Político and El Piñero de la Cuenca.

According to information from AFP, Pedro Tamayo covered for days the discovery of the several clandestine graves in June 2014, from which 35 people were allegedly killed by Los Zetas in the municipality of Tres Valles.

On January of this year, he received several threats against his life, for which a police patrol made daily patrols, however, this didn’t stop him from being assassinated.

It should be noted that since May 17, the organization Artículo 19 had counted 16 journalists assassinated during the administration of Javier Duarte, with Pedro Tamayo, it adds up to 17.

Source: Michoacán 3.0