Photojournalist David Peralta Betanzos Attacked and Robbed of His Equipment in Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón

Statement of solidarity with the photojournalist and community organizer David Peralta Betanzos who was recently attacked and robbed of his photo equipment by the cacique Manuel Zepeda Cortés in the community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón, Oaxaca.

On April 3, 2025 the photojournalist David Peralta Betanzos, member of the Indigenous Mazatec community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magon, Oaxaca was attacked and threatened by the cacique Manuel Zepeda Cortés, while photographing and documenting the extraction of natural resources in the community.

David Peralta is a photojournalist who studied at the School of Communication at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana- Xochimilco in Mexico City. With his camera he has been documenting communal organization (festivities, collective work), the flora and fauna of the community, the natural resources and their exploitation, for a photo competition in Oaxaca City where he is presenting his work.

It is important to mention that David is the younger brother of Miguel Peralta Betanzos, ex-political prisoner currently politically persecuted, who has been criminalized for his struggle against the caciquismo of Manuel Zepeda Cortés and his daughter Elisa Zepeda Lagunas in the community. David’s father was also imprisoned for three years for crimes fabricated by the same cacique family.

David has participated actively in the struggle for the freedom of his brother, his father, and the other people criminalized in the community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón. The attack to which he was subjected is not at all disconnected from his involvement in these struggles.

We denounce the attack on David, along with the caciquismo of Manuel Zepeda Cortés and his daughter Elisa Zepeda Lagunas, who are responsible for more than a decade of repression, violence, and division in the community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón. The fact that David was threatened on a public road for photographing the exploitation of gravel and rock that Manuel Zepeda Cortés has carried out in the community, demonstrates that the cacique Manuel Zepeda Cortés has something to hide. He doesn’t want the exploitation of the natural resources of the community, carried out by his company, to be exposed to the public.

Furthermore, the attack shows that the tactics of provocation and violent confrontation of Manuel Zepeda Cortés haven’t changed. These same tactics were used when he and a violent group attacked the caravan preparing to travel to the tomb of Ricardo Flores Magón in November 2012, along with the attack on the community assembly on December 14, 2014, after which 40 people were criminalized. This latter attack set the foundation for the last decade of repression that the community has faced. Intimidation is a resource that Manuel Zepeda has utilized to disarticulate the community organization. His tactics have been backed up by state authorities in general, and specifically by his daughter Elisa Zepeda, current local representative in the state congress.

It is important to emphasize that during the attack on David, Manuel Zepeda threatened to file a legal complaint against him for supposedly being on “private property,” something that is totally false. This threat is worrying considering the long history of the fabrication of crimes that Manuel and Elisa Zepeda have carried out against members of the community, and the close ties they have to the court in Huautla de Jiménez, as well as to judicial power at the state and federal levels.

Considering all this, we want to make clear that whatever threat that becomes a reality will be the total and absolute responsibility of the Zepeda Lagunas family and their lackeys. The security of David, his family, and the community as a whole must be guaranteed amidst this environment of hostility and threats against their lives.

We call on collectives and individuals to be attentive to any further hostilities.

Documenting, registering, and photographing the natural resources should not be an activity which brings with it a risk to the lives of the people who carry out such journalistic work.

End the fabrication of crimes!

For an Eloxochitlán free of caciques!

End the plunder and political persecution!

Support Group in Solidarity with Miguel Peralta

Miguel Peralta Betanzos

Photo taken by David Peralta Betanzos of the extraction of the natural resources in Eloxochitlán being carried out by Manuel Zepeda.