"They denounce the arrest of Otomí defender Iván Vargas González", March 31, 2020

... Villagers from the Otomí indigenous community of San Francisco Xochicuautla, State of Mexico, denounced that Otomi defender Iván Vargas González was detained ... by state police and his whereabouts are unknown.

At 9 in the morning, Iván Vargas González and other inhabitants of the indigenous community had to leave their homes, despite the recommendations regarding the covid-19 pandemic, to prevent the workers of a Grupo Higa subsidiary from continuing the works in its territory to illegally build a section of the Toluca-Naucalpan highway.

Disregarding the health emergency and even when the justice system ordered the suspension of the works, employees of the construction company Teya and Autovan, a subsidiary of Grupo Higa, resumed work on Monday at the "la ndawada" site, guarded by state police.

The inhabitants notified the workers that they could not be there, because a judge granted them the definitive suspension of the work. In response, they began to put away their tools, but a policeman attacked one of the community members, according to the narration of those affected ...