Cajeme, July 27.- Two members of the Yaqui ethnic group, Sergio Armando and Rafael Esteban, were released this Saturday after spending two years in the Social Reintegration Center (Cereso) in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. The indigenous people were arrested in March 2022 in the municipality of Cajeme, accused of assaulting a driver who refused to pay a fee during a roadblock in Loma de Guamúchil, near Danzante Yaqui.
Their release came after the judge in charge of the case rescinded the precautionary measure of pretrial detention imposed on them. This ruling came in the context of a legal process that has been closely followed by the Yaqui community and human rights organizations, who have denounced what they consider unfair treatment of the detainees.
Tribe
The situation of Sergio Armando and Rafael Esteban was discussed at the most recent meeting between Yaqui Tribe leaders and Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo. At that meeting, representatives of the ethnic group expressed concern about the criminalization of their members and called for the release of the two men, arguing that their detention was a disproportionate response to protest actions seeking to draw attention to their long-standing demands.
The roadblock in Loma de Guamúchil is part of a series of mobilizations by the Yaqui Tribe to demand their territorial rights and access to water resources, which have been a source of conflict for decades. The release of these two members is seen as a step forward in the dialogue between the state government and the Yaqui community, part of the Yaqui Justice Plan.
The government of the Republic has implemented the Yaqui Justice Plan, making this tribe the first of the country's 70 indigenous peoples to receive an investment exceeding 15.441 billion pesos in works and programs for social, economic, health, education, water, and territorial development.
