Evangelicals in the area suffer persecution since 2016, with physical attacks, property destruction, looting, jail, and a ban of the use of water wells and schooling their children.
Some of the evangelical Christian families seeking refuge after being attacked in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. / Photo: David Medina.
On 26 April, around a hundred evangelicals from Fundamental La Gran Comisión (Fundamental The Great Commission) Baptist church, left their homes in the municipalities of Coamila and Rancho Nuevo in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.
These church members went to the municipal presidency of Hidalgo, looking for help in the midst of the growing religious persecution they are facing.
When this article was written, the families and individuals were seeking refuge and getting first aid support from members of other evangelical churches. They planned to stay in Hidalgo's capita hoping to get and official response from the authorities.
This most recent crisis began on 25 March, when pastor Rogelio Hernández Baltazar and two other believers were detained in the Coamila delegation.
After 48 hours of negotiations, conducted by a community delegate, they reached an agreement and were released.
However, ignoring the signed agreement, in early April, residents of Coamila began to invade five properties owned by evangelical Christians, destroying crops, cutting down trees and removing stones.
Three houses were fenced off, preventing the owners from accessing their homes. The believers were physically attacked several times, even with machetes, and almost every night individuals tried to break down the door of the pastor's house.
On 25 April, the inhabitants of Coamila and Rancho Nuevo cut off the electricity supply to all evangelical families. Some also looted the church, and placed guards at the entrances.
Finally, under permanent threat and cut off from communication, the believers had no choice but to leave their homes and land.
This problem of religious intolerance started in 2016, because the majority does not accept the presence of any religion other than the traditional Roman Catholicism.
Although believers contributed in social charity work projects, except in those who were for the benefit of the Roman Catholic church, they were systematically deprived of their rights, such as access to the cemetery, school attendance for their children, use of water wells, government benefits, right of transit, farming and land ownership, in addition to suffering multiple serious physical attacks, several sources have reported.
This has been reported to the relevant authorities many times, but no effective response has been received, and religious persecution has continued, the evangelical families in Hidalgo state denounce.
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