Sonora authorities identified five of the 10 members of the Yaqui community who were reported missing, after conducting DNA tests on remains found in the community of Chichiquelite, in Cajeme.
According to the sonoran prosecutor, Claudia Indira Contreras Córdova, the laboratory results allowed the identification of remains of Fabián Sombra Miranda, Braulio Pérez Sol, Heladio Molina Zavala, Martín Hurtado Flores and Fabián Valencia Romero.
The situation of his other five missing comrades, Leocadio Galaviz Cruz, Juan Justino Galaviz Cruz, Gustavo Acosta Hurtado, Benjamín Pórtela Peralta, and Artemio Arballo Canizalez, is still unknown.
Read more | Mexico: the permanent battle of the Yaqui against dispossession
After the discovery of the land on September 19, authorities said they have already processed 7 linear kilometers through a stream, in order to rule out that there are more remains, and that the processing of the place is continuing, where they have secured skeletal remains and indications that will be put in sight for possible identification.
In a statement, the State Prosecutor’s Office said that the relatives of the victims will be able to request the support of the Ministry of the Interior, the National Human Rights Commission, or a private laboratory, to make a second comparative DNA survey, if they wish.
? THE GENETIC COMPARISON OF #ADN CARRIED OUT BY THE CIF LABORATORY OF THE #FGJE #SONORA, THE SKELETAL REMAINS LOCATED IN #ELCHICHIQUELITE, GIVE POSITIVE TO 5 OF THE 10 PEOPLE REPORTED MISSING IN #YAQUI TERRITORY.
? https://t.co/KpjOXhYNH3 pic.twitter.com/6lBPB8rEgU
— #FGJESonora (@fgjesonora) September 27, 2021
On July 14, 15 people left the Yaqui community of Loma de Bácum, in southern Sonora, for the ranch known as Agua Caliente – about 85 kilometers to the north. There they would pick up some cows that they would take to their community for the traditional festival that began that day.
Although there were 15 people who at first were deprived of their liberty, according to relatives, four of them were released and one more managed to escape from the captors.
In recent months, violence against the Yaqui people has intensified as there has been the disappearance and death of community leaders, rights defenders and activists such as: Tomás Rojo, Agustín “El Roque” Valdez and Luis Urbano.
It is estimated that the Yaqui community of the country is more than 40 thousand people, who live in the eight towns located south of Sonora, in addition to another 15 thousand people -also belonging to the Yaqui community- who reside in Tucson, Arizona.
For years, each of the villages has had to defend its territory in the face of constant pressure from different public and private works, for example, gas pipelines.
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