Pueblos Sin Fronteras: Irineo Mújica Detained for Human Trafficking

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The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) confirmed the arrest of Irineo Mújica, activist and leader of the organization “Pueblos Sin Fronteras”, as well as Cristóbal Sánchez, in compliance with an arrest warrant for related crimes in immigration matters.

The federal agency reported that in April and May, Honduran nationals filed several complaints against the now detained, accused of asking for money in exchange for illegally intern them in Mexico and take them to the Federal Public Ministry at the northern border of the country, in order to cross them, also illegally, to the United States.

The Office of the Prosecutor stated that Irineo Mújica, detained in Sonora, would be involved in the commission of the crime of transporting migrants, with the aggravating circumstance that such conduct was carried out with minors, while Cristóbal Sánchez, apprehended at his home in Mexico City , would have illegally introduced people of Central American origin to the national territory.

Irineo Mújica Arzate, leader of the Pueblos Sin Fronteras Organization that organizes migrant caravans from Central America to the United States, was arrested at 2:30 pm on June 5 in Sonoyta, Sonora, bordering Lukeville, Arizona.

Detained almost at the same time, activist Cristóbal Sánchez, outside his home in Xochimilco, Mexico City. He is a founder of the Cultura Migrante collective that works to defend the human rights of those who seek to reach the other side.

Sources from the Ministry of Public Security and Citizen Protection confirmed the arrests and reported that the arrests were made by agents of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in response to the order of a judge of the state of Chiapas, where they are investigated for undocumented traffic.

Olga Sánchez Cordero, Secretary of the Interior, said in March that Pueblos Sin Fronteras is in charge of organizing the caravans of Central American migrants who move through Mexican territory to the border with the United States.

Through its Facebook page, Pueblos Sin Fronteras condemned the detention of its leaders who organize human displacement: “it is arbitrary, and represents retaliation against the important work of defending the human rights of migrants, and for their great effort to generate a more just and less violent Mexico. When they violate us, they violate us all! “

CNN reports that during the trial that takes place in the US against Scott Warren, a volunteer for the organization “No More Deaths”, based in Arizona and is dedicated to helping migrants crossing the desert, the name Irineo Mújica came out.

The charges Warren faces are for providing transportation and lodging to two migrants, which could cost him 20 years in prison. At the trial, the prosecution revealed that there is evidence that Scott communicated by telephone with Irineo, who had helped him transfer a Salvadoran and Honduran migrant to the United States .

Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, volunteered two months ago to testify before the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), when he had the suspicion that there was an investigation against him and against Sin Fronteras, the organization he directs.

He did so by means of a letter sent on April 2 to Alejandro Gertz Moreno, attorney general of the Republic. His office accepted this communication on April 8. Two months later, on June 5, Mujica was arrested in Sonoyta, Sonora. He is accused, along with activist Cristóbal Sánchez, arrested in Mexico City, of human trafficking. Both are in preventive detention in Tapachula, Chiapas, which is where the file against him began.

According to the FGR, the accusation against Mujica and Sánchez is based on the testimony of Honduran migrants who said that they both helped them cross from Guatemala to Mexico, and charged them for it.

This crime is included in article 159 of the Migration Law and is intended for the cases of “polleros”, the guides who charge large sums of money to Central Americans to cross Mexico, and even to reach the United States.

Why did they arrest Irineo and Cristóbal, defenders of migrant rights?

Mújica and Sánchez are two well-known activists, with many years of experience in migratory routes to the United States.

The arrests come after, in February, the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sanchez Cordero, pointed to Pueblo Sin Fronteras as a “recruiter” of migrants in Central America to join the caravans. These complaints have always been denied by the organization, which has since been warning of the attempts of “criminalization” against it.

In Mujica’s letter, which Animal Politico had access to , requested information about whether he or Pueblos Sin Fronteras was being the subject of an investigation by the prosecution. In the event that the answer was affirmative, the activist referred to Article 215 of the National Code of Procedures to offer to “provide information for the development of said investigation”.

A similar document was presented by six other members of Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

On the other hand, many people in the Central American migrant caravans have complained there were many promises made when they joined the caravans that were not kept or are non existent, such as facilitating the asylum procedure to the US, food and shelter at the Mexico / US border etc.