The death of a Salvadoran refugee at the hands of the police has drawn international condemnation and potential embarrassment for Mexico, which on Monday began hosting a United Nations summit focused on gender equality.
Victoria Esperanza Salazar Ariza died on Saturday after police detained her in Tulum, a resort in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Videos shared on social media showed the woman crying as an officer crouched on her back, until she died.
During the videos, officers are also shown dragging her body to the back of a police truck.
Ejercen acción penal por feminicidio en Tulum. La Fiscalía General de Quintana Roo decidió proceder contra cuatro policías tras la muerte de Victoria Esperanza Salazar Arriaza, fallecida este sábado tras ser detenida y sometida.#RealidadSinFiltro pic.twitter.com/E3OK5vfVX4
— Paola Barquet (@paobarquet) March 29, 2021
The incident brought to mind the killing of African American George Floyd in Minnesota last May, after an officer crouched on his neck with his knee to death, which sparked violent internal protests and international condemnation.
Authorities in Quintana Roo confirmed on Monday that the cause of death was a fractured spine, and four officers were arrested in connection with the killing, according to the New York Times.
I doubt we will see a single George Floyd level protest in Mexico over this police killing in #Tulum
The way this unnamed woman’s body is treated is vile
Video is hard to watch
Tragic and senseless
Cops need to at the very least stop kneeling on people— Andrea Noel (@metabolizedjunk) March 28, 2021
On Monday afternoon, Tulum’s mayor, Victor Maas, said at a press conference that “the city’s chief of police has been removed from his post.”
“I have been brutally treated and killed … it is a reality that fills us with sadness, pain and shame,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez said during a press conference in which the United Nations Forum for Generations Equality opened.
“I say to her family, to Salvadoran and Mexican women, to the women of the world, and to everyone, men and women, that those responsible will be punished,” he added.