A group of Zicatela Market vendors have filed a formal complaint against Santa María Colotepec Mayor Carmelo Cruz, whom they accuse of attempting to take away the land where their businesses are located.
Two weeks before his term was to come to an end Cruz violently shut down the market. The business operators said this week that the fences and posts enclosing the near 4-hectare piece of land that has belonged to the market for over 30 years were removed at the same time.
The land was donated for a market by Bienes Comunales (the office of communal lands) of Colotepec in 1984 and the market became known as the Mercado 12 de diciembre. The present market opened in 2018.
This week’s complaint was filed before the public prosecutor’s office in Puerto Escondido, where market business owners asked that law enforcement authorities provide precautionary measures to avoid reprisals from the mayor and his council for the duration of the investigation.
With reports from Primera Línea
