30,000 evangelicals demonstrate for peace in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, violence and evictions in Oaxaca
On August 31, 2025, the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, was the scene of remarkable religious mobilization: more than 30,000 evangelical faithful paraded in the streets to demand peace and denounce the climbing of violence aimed at the indigenous Christian communities. This peaceful march, organized under the direction of Pastor José Pérez Pardo of the Jesús Es El Camino church, started at Diana Cazadora and ended in the central park of the capital, affirming the will of the Mexican evangelical churches to defend non-violence and social cohesion.
Simultaneously, in the state of Oaxaca, the Protestant community of San Isidro Arenal experienced a dramatic situation. Following a local agreement dating from 1993 imposing exclusive Catholicism in this village, the last remaining Protestant family was forced on August 6 to leave its land, its burnt church and its property destroyed by a group of 300 people according to the CSW organization. Since November 2023, these families have undergone violence, expulsions and arbitrary arrests. Military pastors Sarmiento Alavés and Esdrás Ojeda Jiménez, who came to attend a trial, were attacked during a demonstration and detained several hours before being released by the police.
The Federation of Pastors of Oaxaca, through the lawyer Porfirio Flores, launched an urgent appeal to the local and federal authorities to guarantee respect for religious freedom, a principle however inscribed in the Mexican constitution but still too often flouted. These facts illustrate the complexity of religious cohabitation in certain native areas of Mexico, where community uses and customs often take precedence over fundamental civil rights.
Mexican evangelical churches thus play an increasingly assertive role in the defense of fundamental freedoms and social mobilization against religious persecution.
