El Sur January 4, 2002

The presence of the 19th Infantry Battalion in the communities of Canalejas and El Zapotilla since December 26th (2001) has provoked alarm among the residents, as the soldiers have them practically surrounded. According to the declarations made by Jaun Bautista Valle, president of the Organization of Campesino Ecologists of the Sierra of Petatlan and Coyuca de Catatlan, the military is there to intimidate the community members, and their presence is a response to the trip made by community representatives last November to Mexico City to demand that the assassination of human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa be fully investigated (...) The president of the campesino ecologists asked that members of the press as well as representatives of the Human Rights Commission travel to the communities in order to be witnesses to the intimidating military presence.