Political violence and repression have long been endemic in Guerrero. The state houses over 60 political prisoners -- many of whom are imprisoned on fabricated charges of arms possession or drug trafficking. Since political opposition tasted its first victories in municipal and state elections in 1989, the state government (through caciques and paramilitary groups) and the military have brutally oppressed political dissidents. Campesino organizations have been regular targets, as have PRD candidates, activists, and suspected members of insurgent groups. While the country is swept up in euphemisms of democracy and an end to corruption and impunity, caciques (local power brokers) continue to rule the land with strong-arm tactics of threats, intimidation, and violence. Many well-known human rights abusers remain at large, including dozens of state police and military personnel actively involved in the 1995 massacre of 17 campesinos at Aguas Blancas and the 1998 massacre of 11 local residents and alleged ERPI members at El Charco.

Despite government rhetoric about peace and stability in Mexico, the military continues heavy occupation of various aspects of civilian life in Guerrero. Under pretexts of enforcing the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives, combating drug cultivation and trafficking, and preserving the ecology of the region, army personnel continually harass and intimidate citizens through roadside checkpoints, community patrols, occupation of campesinos' lands, and various "social" works. The Army maintains an estimated presence of 25,000 to 40,000 troops in the state despite the fact that the Attorney General for Military Justice continues to receive disproportionately high numbers of complaints about human rights abuses by military personnel.

Guerrero is also facing a rapidly deteriorating environment. The state's natural resources have long been harvested by both Mexican and foreign corporations operating with the complicity of government officials and local caciques. One of Guerrero's primary natural resources are its vast, coastal forests. Though lumber has been extracted in various stages throughout the last century, deforestation accelerated exponentially in the mid-1990's causing much resistance from campesino organizations and heavy environmental damage. The Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, for example, has declared the river basins in Costa Grande region to be in "critical" condition. In some regions as much as 40% of forest cover has been cut down, resulting in heavy soil erosion, depletion of aquifers, changing precipitation patterns, floods, and disappearance of local fauna.