Massive displacement latest sign of fear in Mexican state disputed by cartels

TILA, Mexico — It was night when residents of this remote town began to hear gunshots. The store sign reads in Spanish, “Peace.” Houses sit on the hillside in Tila, Chiapas state, Mexico, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. He made his living driving Tila’s streets playing ads from a large speaker atop his Volkswagen Beetle, but now says, “We can’t live with this anxiety.” A woman displaced from the town of Tila breastfeeds her son at a sports complex being used to shelter internally displaced people in Yajalon, Chiapas state, Mexico, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. An image of Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata adorns a community center, where members of a local “ejido,” an area of communal land, meet in Tila, Chiapas state, Mexico, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Members of a local “ejido,” an area of communal land, stand guard in the face of potential attacks in Nicolas Bravo, on the outskirts of Tila, Chiapas state, Mexico, Monday, June 17, 2024.