Señora Miriam Rodríguez Martínez Executed at her Home

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat

Carlos Alvarez

Miriam Elizabeth Rodríguez Martínez, representative of the Collective of Missing Persons in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, was killed at her home by a group of armed men the night of Wednesday, May 10. 

Around 22:15 hours, the perpetrators drove up to her house and called the woman by her name, and when she came to the door, they shot her with about 12 gunshots. The activist was seriously injured, and died when she was transferred to a local hospital.

Both the Citizen's Community in Search of the Disappeared in Tamaulipas and Governor Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca condemned the execution of the activist leader of the movement in the municipality of San Fernando.

In 2012, a criminal group kidnapped Karen Alejandra Salinas Rodriguez, daughter of the activist killed last night. Two years later Miriam found the whereabouts of her family member in a clandestine grave and provided information for the capture of those responsible.

One of the kidnappers of the activist's daughter, Enrique Yoel Rubio Flores, was arrested months later and interned in the Ciudad Victoria prison. However, last March he escaped along with 29 inmates who escaped through a tunnel.

The activist also suffered the attempted kidnapping of her husband, whom Los Zetas dragged out of their business. The woman prevented the kidnapping by chasing the criminals in her car, while alerting members of the Army, who managed to arrest the kidnappers.

Last month, Mrs. Rodríguez Martínez participated in a caravan , "Against the Fear"  in its passage through the cities of McAllen and Brownsville, Texas. The community she led requested assistance from the United Nations (UN) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to protect human rights activists in Tamaulipas.

In August 2010, the Los Zetas criminal group executed 72 people - 58 men and 14 women - mostly immigrants from Central and South America. All were killed by being shot in the back, their bodies later stacked and their corpses left out in the open.

Amnesty International, the UN-Office of Human Rights (UNO-DH) and the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) all have condemned the assassination of Miriam Rodriguez Martinez.