Letter from Gabriel Zendejas on Recent Attacks in the Municipality of Urique, Chihuahua
Last week, acts of terrorism occurred in the Sierra of Chihuahua within the Municipality of Urique in Chihuahua state, where for more than a year, we have been living with criminal groups engaged in robbing and killing those who resist, without the authorities being able to stop them. Last week, the company Gold Corp., Mina El Sauzal suffered the kidnapping of two employees. The distributors from Sinaloa have cancelled deliveries due to the lack of security along the stretch of road from Choix passing through El Potrero and Tubares where there are frequent checkpoints manned by heavily armed thugs who, in the best of cases, only rob them. Faced with this situation, the managers of the mine chose to evacuate all remaining staff by small planes. In La Cieneguita Lluvia de Oro, Municipality of Urique, Chihuahua there are two mining companies, Minera Rio Tinto, S.A. de C.V. to which I have been serving as General Manager, and Dia Bras, the owner of the Piedras Verdes underground mine. We have an open pit mine. We were asked to provide a list of all personnel under the pretext of finding enemies hiding among the mine workers, or they threatened to come and kill everyone.