“One day we found an iguana in the office. It had a paper tied to its tail that said: “Do not mess with us. That was the first time they threatened us,” complained the priest Blas Alvarado, pastor of Tenosique, Tabasco, in southeastern Mexico,
Father Alvarado runs a migrant shelter that cares for undocumented Central American migrants journeying to the United States in search of economic opportunity. Church run shelters are vital to the safety of these migrants who are easy prey for criminals that kidnap them for ransom. Those unable to pay are usually murdered.
Father Alvarado is under constant threat now for his advocacy and for his demands that the police and the military stop the kidnappings.