JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Nestora Salgado García, arrested for forming a community self-defense group in her hometown in the largely indigenous state of Guerrero, Mexico, is on the 13th day of her hunger strike today.

The state of terror in Mexico described as the "War on Drugs" has resulted in a state of total terror for women, the poor and indigenous. Gang control and corruption means that civilians—and especially women—are massacred at an alarming rate, with six women killed every day. Some are slain in the middle of the street by armed assailants, others are killed by men empowered by a situation of impunity. Gang violence has resulted in the widespread abduction and rape of women.

In the state of Guerrero, where the 43 Ayotzinapa students were abducted, theviolence reached a pitch that led Nestora Salgado García to abandon her life in the U.S., where she had lived since the age of 20, to found a self-defense unit in her largely indigenous hometown of Olinala, Guerrero.Despite the fact that such groups are legal in Mexico, security forces arrested Nestora in August 2013.

The secretive arrest without a warrant resulted in Nestora being kept from contacting her family or lawyers for several weeks. During this time, she was tortured using alleged "medical tests" that involved the application of electricity, she has since told her lawyers. She is being held on charges of "organized crime," but has never been brought before a judge. Wardens have denied Nestora access to her medicines for existing conditions and to medical attention. She has now developed nerve problems in her hands and feet.

On January 28, after solidarity protests in several countries, the Interamerican Human Rights Commission ordered the Mexican government to ensure medical attention for Nestora within 15 days. This did not happen. On May 5, Nestora started a hunger strike against the conditions of her detention. Lawyers say her condition is deteriorating.

Yesterday, Roberto Campa Cifrián, secretary for human rights, announced that he will take part in a meeting with Guerrero officials about Nestora's condition in the coming days.

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