Indigenous leader Domingo López Ángel, expelled from San Juan Chamula, buried with Islamic rites in Chiapas

Domingo López Ángel, a prominent indigenous leader and a key figure among the thousands of Tzotzil people expelled from San Juan Chamula, has been laid to rest according to Islamic rites. López Ángel, who was 78 years old, passed away and was buried in the La Hormiga colony, a settlement established by many of the Tzotziles who were forced out of San Juan Chamula between 1994 and 1996 due to religious differences.

His burial followed Islamic tradition, with his body wrapped in white cloth and placed in the grave without a coffin, oriented towards Mecca. López Ángel was notable as the first indigenous person from his community to embrace Islam, a faith he actively shared by distributing Islamic literature in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

He was also a part of civil resistance movements, both peaceful and armed, dedicated to defending his fellow Tzotziles who faced expulsion from San Juan Chamula. The mass expulsions, primarily affecting those who converted to Protestantism, led to an estimated 35,000 Tzotziles leaving their ancestral home. Today, the expelled communities form a significant majority in the population of San Juan Chamula, residing in its larger neighborhoods and surrounding areas.