On Wednesday morning, Erik Saracho, a territory defender and coordinator of the Jaguar Alliance, was shot at in the community of San Francisco, known as San Pancho, in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas. The activist received several bullet wounds as he was returning home and was taken to the local hospital, where he is reported to be in stable condition. According to information from community residents, the attack occurred around 6:30 a.m., when Saracho was returning home after taking his daughter to school. Following the attack, the defender was taken to the emergency room of the San Pancho hospital, where he received medical attention and is reported to be stable, but it was reported that he had several bullet injuries. Saracho is known in the community for his participation in defending the territory, the jaguar, the environment, and the urban development of San Pancho. Residents point out that his activism has put him in confrontation with economic interests linked to real estate projects in the area, where he has even received blockades and signals from authorities. Local reports indicate that he recently participated in protests against a development called Ysuri, which neighbors have opposed on the grounds that it exceeds permitted construction levels and could cause problems with water supply, drainage, and mobility in this coastal town. After the attack became known, residents and local organizations condemned the events and demanded protection measures for territory defenders. In a statement released this morning, they said: “We strongly repudiate these facts and we are going to raise our voice against these acts of violence, homicide attempt, and intimidation of our people and its defenders.” Likewise, they held the three levels of government responsible for guaranteeing the security of those who participate in the defense of the territory and called for a demonstration this same Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. in the Brotherhood Park, in San Pancho. To date, authorities have not reported any arrests or on the progress of the investigations related to the attack. Journalists' network condemns attack on Erik Saracho The Puerto Vallarta Journalists' Network (RPPV) condemned the armed attack on journalist and environmental defender Erik Saracho, which occurred on the morning of this March 11. The network of communicators warned that the attack should not be treated as an isolated security incident, but as a direct aggression against freedom of expression and the defense of the territory and the environment. The organization also expressed concern about the time it would have taken for security forces to arrive at the scene of the attack, which, they pointed out, shows flaws in the region's capacity to respond to violent incidents. In its statement, the RPPV expressed its solidarity with the journalist and his family, and demanded immediate investigations from the municipal, state, and federal authorities of Nayarit and Jalisco to identify those responsible, considering his journalistic and environmental defense work as a priority line. Likewise, it demanded the implementation of protection measures to guarantee the security of Saracho and his family, as well as actions to prevent aggressions against journalists and territory defenders from going unpunished.
