hatzel
25th December 2010, 02:39
Excuse my potentially dodgy translation, but the idea's the same:
Mexican activists reported that up to 50 undocumented Central Americans travelling on a freight train were abducted by an armed group in Chauites, Oaxaca, in the south-east of the country. The authorities say there is no evidence to confirm the kidnapping took place.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador asked the Mexican government to investigate the complaint and punish those responsible.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the apparently abducted immigrants is unknown.
Among them are men, women and children, taken by the alleged kidnappers with their hands tied, Father Alejandro Solalinde, head of the Catholic Pastoral de Movilidad Humana (PMH) in the Mexican south-east, told the BBC.
"What was a kidnapping, was a kidnapping. Too bad the federal government will continue with its claims in order to look after its image," he said.
However, in a statement responding to the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry's governmental Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) it was said there was no evidence that the train carrying the migrants was intercepted by any group.
Undocumented
The kidnapping is said to have taken place last Thursday, after the INM conducted an operation to stop illegal immigrants at the border between Oaxaca and Chiapas, in the south-east of the country.
Official information indicates that 92 immigrants were arrested for violating the country's immigration laws, and are in the process of deportation.
After this operation the train continued its journey. The priest Heyman Vasquez, director of the Hogar de la Misericordia de Arriaga shelter in Chiapas, said that illegal immigrants who had escaped from the INM again boarded the train.
But half an hour later a group of armed men stopped the train. Some witnesses say they blocked the tracks with logs and stones.
At that time the kidnapping is said to have taken place.
"The criminals attacked the train, carrying machetes, guns, and beat them. What we know from the testimony of the migrants is that they took all the women and children," he said in conversation with BBC Mundo.
No one knows the exact number of the alleged kidnapping. Reports suggest there could be between 30 and 50 victims, most from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
The train stopped again in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, where Father Solalinde runs the Hermanos en el Camino shelter. 20 survivors sought refuge there.
Official Version
Salvadoran diplomatic staff interviewed some survivors and collected information similar to that of the Mexican priests.
Through an official statement, the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry asked the Mexican government for an investigation to track down the immigrants and punish those responsible for the attack.
But the INM said the mass kidnapping reports are baseless, because the freight train did not stop before they carried out their operation.
Nor was there any evidence that there had been a crash, because the service has performed flawlessly.
"In consultation with local and federal authorities, as well as the railway, no records have been found to confirm the reports identified by the Salvadoran representation", claimed a statement from the INM.
So far, he added, "there are no complaints filed before the Mexican authorities on the part of foreign migrants."
Los Zetas are threatening
Beyond the controversy, Father Solalinde said he had received threats to force him to turn in those who escaped the attack on the train.
The pressure is said to have come from members of the gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13, and the drug trafficking cartel known as Los Zetas.
The witnesses left the shelter protected by federal authorities, but that does not reduce the risk.
"When they see that their merchandise was taken, not delivered as requested, they will feel cheated and might do something," he said.
It is not the first time Solalinde has been threatened. Last April, the priest and four of his colleagues were given precautionary security measures by the Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, to protect his life.
The measures were not fully realized, affirmed the priest.
Source (http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2010/12/101221_mexico_secuestro_chauites_en.shtml) (in Spanish)
Mexican activists reported that up to 50 undocumented Central Americans travelling on a freight train were abducted by an armed group in Chauites, Oaxaca, in the south-east of the country. The authorities say there is no evidence to confirm the kidnapping took place.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador asked the Mexican government to investigate the complaint and punish those responsible.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the apparently abducted immigrants is unknown.
Among them are men, women and children, taken by the alleged kidnappers with their hands tied, Father Alejandro Solalinde, head of the Catholic Pastoral de Movilidad Humana (PMH) in the Mexican south-east, told the BBC.
"What was a kidnapping, was a kidnapping. Too bad the federal government will continue with its claims in order to look after its image," he said.
However, in a statement responding to the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry's governmental Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) it was said there was no evidence that the train carrying the migrants was intercepted by any group.
Undocumented
The kidnapping is said to have taken place last Thursday, after the INM conducted an operation to stop illegal immigrants at the border between Oaxaca and Chiapas, in the south-east of the country.
Official information indicates that 92 immigrants were arrested for violating the country's immigration laws, and are in the process of deportation.
After this operation the train continued its journey. The priest Heyman Vasquez, director of the Hogar de la Misericordia de Arriaga shelter in Chiapas, said that illegal immigrants who had escaped from the INM again boarded the train.
But half an hour later a group of armed men stopped the train. Some witnesses say they blocked the tracks with logs and stones.
At that time the kidnapping is said to have taken place.
"The criminals attacked the train, carrying machetes, guns, and beat them. What we know from the testimony of the migrants is that they took all the women and children," he said in conversation with BBC Mundo.
No one knows the exact number of the alleged kidnapping. Reports suggest there could be between 30 and 50 victims, most from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
The train stopped again in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, where Father Solalinde runs the Hermanos en el Camino shelter. 20 survivors sought refuge there.
Official Version
Salvadoran diplomatic staff interviewed some survivors and collected information similar to that of the Mexican priests.
Through an official statement, the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry asked the Mexican government for an investigation to track down the immigrants and punish those responsible for the attack.
But the INM said the mass kidnapping reports are baseless, because the freight train did not stop before they carried out their operation.
Nor was there any evidence that there had been a crash, because the service has performed flawlessly.
"In consultation with local and federal authorities, as well as the railway, no records have been found to confirm the reports identified by the Salvadoran representation", claimed a statement from the INM.
So far, he added, "there are no complaints filed before the Mexican authorities on the part of foreign migrants."
Los Zetas are threatening
Beyond the controversy, Father Solalinde said he had received threats to force him to turn in those who escaped the attack on the train.
The pressure is said to have come from members of the gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13, and the drug trafficking cartel known as Los Zetas.
The witnesses left the shelter protected by federal authorities, but that does not reduce the risk.
"When they see that their merchandise was taken, not delivered as requested, they will feel cheated and might do something," he said.
It is not the first time Solalinde has been threatened. Last April, the priest and four of his colleagues were given precautionary security measures by the Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, to protect his life.
The measures were not fully realized, affirmed the priest.
Source (http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2010/12/101221_mexico_secuestro_chauites_en.shtml) (in Spanish)