53 year old leader of the Unifying Movement for the Triqui, Juan Domingo Pérez Castillo, was shot in the head this morning when he was at the Triqui Nation Cultural Center “Heriberto Pazos” in the middle of the Oaxaca capital. The aggressors haven’t been identified.

Perez Castillo, from Cieneguillas community, had been very active for the last months fighting for justice, social condition and political improvement for his people, which could have been the motive for the attack, as Uriel Caballero, one of Perez Castillo’s collegues has commented.

His physical state has been reported critical, although some media have declared him dead.

Triqui Cultural Center was named after Heriberto Pazos, another indigenous activist murdered in 2010.

Translated from Spanish by Carlos Cuadra