Mario Gómez López

Mario Gómez López is a maya Tsotil human rights defender and builder in the Santa Cruz community from the Cuxtitali El Pinar common land, in the San Cristóbal de Las Casas municipality in the state of Chiapas. Within his community, Mario Gómez López has advocated for the rights of indigenous people by denouncing the presence of criminal groups that violently dispute and appropriate the indigenous territory. The human rights defender has worked within his community and participated in peaceful protests, demanding that authorities ensure the safety of the community and their rights. He has also advocated and demanded justice for the murder of his son Mateo Gómez López in 2021, which occurred within the same context of insecurity in the community. Due to this work, Mario Gómez López and his wife, woman human rights defender Pascuala López López, have been subjected to threats and attacks. Pascuala was a targeted of attempted femicide in April 2022 for denouncing the presence of criminal groups in the community and for demanding justice in the case of their son Mateo Gómez. They have both been beneficiaries of precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) since 2023.