Cabrera’s family fled into the mountains of central Mexico after bombs fell from the sky and bullets ricocheted off concrete floors in Tula, a small town in Guerrero, an Associated Press report said. The AP described Cabrera, 74, returning a week later to burned remnants of a life she said she would not be able to reclaim—salvaging pots, woven cloths and a small wooden cross from the ruins while her house roof had collapsed and appliances were melted.
In the AP report, Cabrera tied the flight to years of mounting cartel violence in her area and said the most recent attack pushed her to leave. The report said a group known as Los Ardillos attacked her town and other nearby communities with drone-fired explosives, opened fire on local community police, killed livestock and burned homes, leaving some scenes difficult to recognize.
After arriving with other displaced families, Cabrera said she gave bags of belongings to soldiers escorting a small group of families returning to gather what they could. She described handling the moment as a farewell, walking through her garden for the last time while armed men in camouflage loaded possessions onto a truck and she pleaded with animals she believed were being left behind.
Cabrera’s account illustrates what a number of experts describe as an “invisible” displacement crisis in Mexico, the AP report said, emphasizing that there are few comprehensive official figures and limited resources for people once violence forces them to flee. The AP said the situation leaves displaced residents with uncertainty about where they are going to go next, and it described videos posted online showing crying women and children pleading for help.
On the figures, the report said CIPOG-EZ estimated at least 800 people—including children and the elderly—were forcibly displaced in connection with the violence and that three community police officers were killed. The report contrasted that estimate with the government’s official account, saying Mexico’s government told reporters Tuesday that only 120 people were forced to flee and confirmed no deaths.
As the fighting escalated, the AP report described different routes taken by families. It said some ran into the mountains while others sought shelter under a local basketball court, while still others boarded cars, buses and trucks, scattering to different regions. It also cited a community leader who said that in their town alone they estimated around 280 people had been forced to flee.
The AP report said the government’s response included deploying 1,200 military and police officers and establishing a “safe corridor” so humanitarian aid could reach affected communities. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at a news conference last week that the government did not want a confrontation that would affect civilians and that it aimed to preserve people’s lives.
Critics cited by the AP said the crackdown on violence does not address the underlying displacement problem and that the lack of a comprehensive registry for displaced people makes it harder for humanitarian and oversight bodies to track needs. The AP also cited a 2025 government National Survey of Victimization and Public Security Perception estimating nearly 250,000 households were forced to flee in 2024 to protect themselves from crime, and it said the Ibero-American University documented at least 44,695 people who had fled to other parts of Mexico between 2024 and 2025.
In comments included in the AP report, Prisco Rodríguez, a local representative for CIPOG-EZ, said there was no life left in the communities and that official statements about people having returned did not match what remained on the ground. Cabrera, the report said, and her husband Alejandro Venancio Bruno, 75, described scrambling to decide whether to relocate to places such as Mexico City or the state of Queretaro, or to remain tied to their land and animals without money, a home or goats.
“It’s like starting from zero,” Venancio Bruno said in the AP report, describing the cost of losing a lifetime of work and possessions when displacement severs people from their routines, livelihoods and neighbors. The AP report said Cabrera and others left behind not only buildings but also the practical support networks that make rebuilding possible, amid a conflict in which drones, bullets and cartel warfare continue to shape daily decisions for families.