Displaced Families Live on Rooftop for a Year Amid Land Dispute in Oaxaca

For the past year, over a hundred individuals from the community of Buenavista have made the rooftop of the Municipal Palace in Santiago Yosondúa, Oaxaca, their home. This makeshift settlement, partially covered by a corrugated metal roof, is where displaced families cook on portable stoves and use communal washbasins. Each night, they lay out blankets to sleep in the open space.

August 18, 2026, marks exactly one year since these residents were violently expelled from their homes by armed men from the neighboring community of Santa María Yolotepec. The displacement stemmed from a long-standing agrarian conflict, during which their homes were burned, crops destroyed, vehicles stolen, and livestock taken. The conflict over a 1,625-hectare area has persisted for over 77 years.

Since their displacement, the residents have survived with the support of municipal authorities and local villagers who provide food. Some found refuge with relatives and friends, while others have migrated outside Oaxaca in search of work and better living conditions. Felipe Edgardo Canseco Ruiz, a legal advisor for the displaced families, criticized the state governor and secretary of government for allowing "absolute impunity" for the armed individuals from Santa María Yolotepec who continue to exert violence.

Canseco Ruiz asserted that state authorities have ignored court rulings that granted possession of the lands to the inhabitants of Buenavista and Chicaba, communities where their ancestors have lived for generations. The Defensoría de los Derechos Humanos del Pueblo de Oaxaca (DDHPO) reports over 4,499 victims of forced displacement in the state, though official data on the total number is lacking, making it difficult to ascertain the full scope of the problem. These displacements are concentrated in 77 municipalities and 103 localities, primarily affecting indigenous communities.

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It has been 12 long months since these people were evicted from their homes at gunpoint with weapons for the exclusive use of the [Mexican] Army (...) And the governor of Oaxaca and the secretary of government of Oaxaca have allowed absolute impunity, that they [the inhabitants of Santa María Yolotepec] continue armed exercising violence.