Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez, parish priest of the Church of Guadalupe in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, was shot dead by a pair of hitmen on the morning of Sunday, October 20. Although he had distanced himself from an armed group operating in the Highlands of Chiapas, the priest continued to receive death threats, reporting that there was a price on his life.
In an interview conducted in August with the newspaper El Heraldo de Chiapas, Father Marcelo Pérez had expressed his commitment to peace, despite the threats he received: 'We fight for peace, in Simojovel they put a price on my life of 150 thousand, 400 thousand, a million pesos, but we live under the protection of God.'
The assassination of the parish priest was carried out violently as he was about to get into his truck in the Cuxtitali neighborhood of San Cristóbal de las Casas. Two hitmen on a motorcycle approached and shot him at close range. These events were confirmed by the bishop of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez, who indicated that the body would be laid to rest in his parish.
Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez was originally from San Andrés Larráinzar, a municipality in the Highlands of Chiapas. During his work as a parish priest at the Church of Guadalupe, the priest was involved in various socio-political issues of the region, facing threats and violent situations that led him to be in constant danger.
