2021 Pantelhó Mass Kidnapping

On 26 July 2021, an armed self-defense group known as El Machete arrived in Pantelhó, the administrative seat of the municipality of the same name in Chiapas, Mexico, and took 21 inhabitants of the town. The group claimed the individuals were involved in organized crime, but no court has adjudicated that allegation. The incident left the fate and location of the 21 people unknown to their families in the aftermath.

Relatives of the disappeared began organizing to demand information and government action. On 25 October 2021, family members held a demonstration behind the Government Palace of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the state capital of Chiapas, calling for authorities to allow them to see the kidnap victims. The relatives stated publicly that they had not received sufficient assistance from authorities in locating or securing the release of the 21 people taken.

On 17 December 2021, relatives traveled to the offices of the State Human Rights Commission of Chiapas (Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos, CEDH) in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, accompanied by an official from the General Secretariat of Government. During this visit, a Pantelhó resident, Francisca Fidencia Morales Monterrosa, accused Pedro Cortés López — who had been appointed president of the Municipal Council of Pantelhó by the Congress of the State of Chiapas — of involvement in the kidnapping of the 21 individuals. Pedro Cortés López has not been formally charged or convicted in connection with this accusation.

Due to fears for their safety in Pantelhó, most of the claimants relocated to the nearby city of San Cristóbal de las Casas. Relatives further alleged that they had received death threats from members of El Machete, the group blamed for the original kidnapping. They also stated that there had been no progress in the search for the missing 21 people and asserted that authorities were only delaying action rather than pursuing the case.

The whereabouts and fate of the 21 people taken on 26 July 2021 remain unresolved. No one has been charged or convicted in relation to the abductions.