Chihuahua, Chih., March 01, 2022. Counting the 12 years that we have been demanding that the murder of Ernesto Rábago Martínez be solved fails to represent the void his absence has left and how helpless we feel every day that goes by without a hint of justice.

We have seen three government administrations come and go without making any progress in the case. It was only in 2021, eleven years after he was murdered in the offices of the Bowerasa civil society organization, in downtown Chihuahua, that a reconstruction of events was conducted for the first time.

This first of March, we gathered once again in front of the Cross of Nails to commemorate the life of our colleague and friend, but also to show the authorities that are still standing together, strong in our fight against impunity.

Although the Rarámuri community of Bakéachi has become a benchmark for the recovery in 2016 of more than 21,000 hectares of their land and 500 more are to be recovered this month, this ongoing fight has cost, in addition to the life of defender Ernesto Rábago, various assaults, threats and attacks against the main leaders of the community, as well as against Estela Ángeles Mondragón.

Please keep in mind that the Rarámuri communities of Bakéachi, Chinéachi, Bakuseachi and Huehuechérare, as well as lawyer Estela Ángeles Mondragón, know how to be persistent and tenacious in the search for justice.

Justice for Ernesto!

Warú matétere ba