Alcalde Goes Missing in Indian Creek; “Riot” Erupts

Tensions rose in Indian Creek Village, Toledo, on Monday evening after the village’s alcalde was reported missing, leading to unrest that resulted in property damage and concerns among residents about their safety.

Marcos Canti’s machete, bicycle, and cuxtal were found abandoned sometime after 3 p.m., where he was reported to have been working on his farm.

By evening, a “mob” had formed, and around 6:30 p.m., the crowd marched to Chairman Domingo Choc’s home, stoning the building and damaging his shop and bar. We are told that Choc was not at home at the time of the incident. 

“They were accusing our chairman that he was invovled in making the alcalde missing,” one resident told News Five. “We called police, but they took very long to come.” 

The violence then spread to the home of the Second Alcalde. The resident noted that the two leaders (the first and second alcaldes) are not in agreement. Threats were also made against the residence of Anselmo Cholom and the Ya’axché field station.

Today, police issued a missing person poster for the 41-year-old alcalde. 

Meanwhile, the “Indigenous Peoples Rights International”, a global non-profit organisation, posted to their Facebook page today that Canti was “kidnapped yesterday amid land grabs targeting Indigenous Peoples” 

“The community police later received an audio message from his phone. In it, he can be heard being beaten and tortured, pleading for help in his native language,” the post read.

We are told that one person is being questioned by police. 

The unrest follows a simmering land dispute. On April 6th, Canti issued 200 “communal land certificates” over private property at Boden Creek, land owned by Ya’axché Conservation Trust. The documents cited the Caribbean Court of Justice’s 2015 Consent Order, which recognises Maya customary land tenure.

But Toledo Private and Lease Landowners Ltd. (TPLL) condemned the move, calling the certificates “fraudulent” and warning they could fuel conflict. The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, Dr Louis Zabaneh, later ordered Canti to halt distribution, clarifying that alcaldes have no legal authority to grant land rights until legislation is passed.

Indian Creek has long been caught between two systems of governance: the traditional Alcalde system upheld by the CCJ ruling and the Village Council Act. While both have coexisted for decades, disputes have sharpened in recent years.

This is a developing story.