A group of men accused of carrying out a fatal shooting killed a local Indigenous defender in Michoacán, Mexico. Officials from the State Attorney General’s Office identified the victim as Alfredo Cisneros Madrigal, a 60-year-old leader who directed common property management in the Purépecha town of Zicuicho, located in the Los Reyes municipality. The killing marks another tragedy in a region where Indigenous communities have long faced violence linked to land and resource struggles.
The incident occurred on the night of Monday, February 21, when Cisneros Madrigal returned to his home in Zicuicho. Eyewitness accounts describe several armed individuals arriving at the residence and fleeing in a vehicle after carrying out the attack. Local residents and community leaders have urged a thorough investigation to determine the motives behind the crime and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In response to the shooting, residents from Purépecha, Nahua, Otomi, and Mazahua communities peacefully blocked three sections of the highway that connects Los Reyes with Uruapan. The action underscored the urgency among Indigenous groups for transparency from authorities and a clear account of who is responsible. The Michoacán Supreme Indigenous Council has highlighted Cisneros Madrigal as a steadfast defender of Purépecha forests who had publicly spoken out against illegal logging and land-use changes aimed at planting avocado groves. The council notes that he had recently addressed matters with national environmental authorities to protect forest areas from such incursions.
According to the Indigenous Council, the region has endured a troubling pattern over the past two decades, with numerous reports of killings or disappearances affecting social activists, forest advocates, Indigenous officials, and environmental stewards in Michoacán. The scale of violence has raised concerns about the safety of community leaders who work to safeguard natural resources and traditional lands.
As investigations continue, the State Attorney General’s Office has not yet disclosed the motive behind the crime or identified the individuals responsible. Authorities say several lines of inquiry remain open as investigators pursue various leads in an effort to establish a clear chronology of events and to determine whether the incident is linked to broader conflicts over land use and forest resources in the region.