The western Mexican state of Michoacƒ¡n is the stage of intense violence as illustrated by the following two incidents:
- On 10 May 2015, the hut that was used for services of the "Iglesia Apostƒ³lica en la Fe en Cristo Jesƒºs", church of the village of Santa Fe de la Laguna was set on fire and burned to the ground by hostile villagers. With a tractor and sledge hammers the foundations and walls of a new church building under construction were destroyed. (Reported by ProtestanteDigital. com, 17 May 2015)
- On 22 May 2015, 43 people were killed in a bloody shoot-out between Mexican security forces and the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel in Tanhuato, a city located close to the border with the state of Jalisco. (Reported by BBC, 23 May 2015)
Dennis Pastoor, persecution analyst of World Watch Research, comments: "The two incidents are very different in nature. The first incident can be categorized as part of the persecution engine
Ecclesiastical arrogance. Sadly, similar expressions of hostility toward non-traditional forms of Christianity occur quite frequently in rural areas of Mexico. The second incident is part of the ongoing bloody war of the Mexican government with drug cartels. But the two incidents are not unrelated. They are both part of a culture of violence that affects the livability of all Mexicans. Both are also a reflection of the incapacity of the Mexican state to guarantee the security of its population, especially of its most vulnerable groups, including Christians belonging to minority denominations.
