Police arrest two in slaying of Mexican pastor

Over 300 state police raided a southern Mexican village on recently to arrest two suspects in the slaying of a Protestant pastor in a region torn by religious conflict, the Associated Press reported.

State Attorney General Mariano Herran Salvatti said that Manuel Hernandez Gomez and Manuel Gomez Perez had been arrested in Botatulan, a settlement in the Chamula district a few miles northwest of the colonial town.

The area is the heart of what may be the most violent religious conflict in the hemisphere, according to AP.

Villagers who practice a form of Catholicism heavily mixed with Indian traditions have forced about 30,000 Protestant converts out of the area, accusing them of undermining the culture.

Local officials say that in addition, over 100 Evangelicals and 21 Catholics have been shot to death over the past 30 years in incidents believed related to the conflict.

A local, evangelical pastor was shot to death with automatic weapons in Botatulan on Oct. 24. — E.P. News