A Dominican sister was shot in the leg as her humanitarian relief team came under gunfire from paramilitaries in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state.
Dominican Sister María Isabel Hernández Rea, 52, was struck in the leg November 18 while attempting to take food to a group of indigenous Tzotzil people displaced from a hamlet in the municipality of Aldama. They had been forced to flee due to a land dispute.
The injuries sustained by Sister María Isabel, part of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Rosary and a pastoral agent of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, were not considered life-threatening, according to the diocese.
She had travelled to the community with the diocesan Caritas team and a non-governmental group promoting indigenous children’s health. “This action is criminal,” said Ofelia Medina, an actress and director of the NGO, Fideicomiso para la Salud de los Niños Indígenas de México.