The attack in early May on the small, impoverished settlement in the coastal state of Guerrero was attributed to the drug cartel Los Ardillos, who analysts say were aiming solely to intimidate locals.The violent incident drove residents away and killed at least three people, according to local defense groups, although there is no official count.An explosion had blasted a tin roof apart, and shattered glass coated the barren room underneath, AFP journalists observed.The view through the cracked window showed shell casings scattered across the dusty street.Maria Cabrera covered her tear-stained face with a blanket as she recalled everything she lost."Ashes, it's all ashes," the 74‑year‑old craftswoman told AFP.
Tula residents are in mourning over the killings of three members of a community defense group © YURI CORTEZ / AFP
"They burned my work as if I weren't capable of working. Here I am out on the street like a dog with no owner."'Shattered'The attack displaced Cabrera and around 100 others to the nearby town of Alcozacan.In the small hilltop community, mostly women wearing traditional Nahua shawls must queue for bags of milk, tortilla flour, canned goods and toilet paper.Police forces stand by, but locals claim the official presence has done little to help them, and no arrests have occurred.This week, a family home in Alcozacan became a makeshift chapel so that Tula residents could hold funerals for their dead, all of whom were members of a community defense group."They fought as hard as they could to defend the people," said Sixto Mendoza of CIPOG-EZ, the local self-defense group standing up to Los Ardillos."We demand justice."
