Gerardo Hurtado Arias, aged 19, a member of the Organizacion Campesina de la Sierra del Sur (OCSS), Southern Sierra Peasant Organization, was reportedly killed by paramilitaries on 20 April 1997 in Tepetixtla, Sierra de Coyuca de Benitez, state of Guerrero. He is the ninth OCSS member to be murdered for political reasons in the last 22 months. He had previously received death threats and had also been beaten by unidentified assailants. His killing has raised fears for the safety of other OCSS members.
