"Please do not come here," she pleaded. "We do not want any more tourists."
The three Mexican women, who spoke through an interpreter, told of their displacement at the hands of paramilitary forces in Chiapas, Mexico. All three blamed the Mexican government, specifically the army, for their suffering.
"Right now what is causing the most damage in our community is the presence of the Mexican army," said Lorenza Gomez Gonzalez. Gonzalez, a displaced Tzotzil woman from Chiapas, also blamed the Mexican army for bringing drug addiction, alcoholism and prostitution into her town.
"They've only come to divide us in our community," she said. "We know that they want to weaken us and weaken our institutions. We have to stay strong."
Carmela Gomez Hernandez, also a displaced woman from Chiapas, blamed the Mexican government for a military massacre that she said killed 45 villagers, including 21 women and 15 children.
"We're suffering a lot of pain and sadness," Hernandez said.
A Mexican woman who identified herself only as "Laura" spoke next and said the government was trying to "crush" the indigenous people.
"The government wants to step on us and wants to eliminate us," she said.
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