Drug cartel turf battles cut off towns in southern Mexico state of Chiapas, near Guatemala border

By EDGAR H. CLEMENTE
Associated Press

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Drug cartel turf battles have cut off towns in southern Mexico state of Chiapas, near the Guatemala border, Mexico’s president acknowledged Monday. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the cartels have cut off electrical power in some towns, and then prevented government workers from coming in to fix power lines. López Obrador also appeared to lend credence to videos posted over the weekend, showing residents applauding about a dozen pickups full of armed Sinaloa cartel gunmen as they entered one Chiapas town. The local Roman Catholic Diocese said cartels were practicing forced recruitment among local residents, and had “taken over our territory,” blocking roads.