olitical instability pushed many indigenous into the municipality from more rural areas in the latter half of the decade. In 1998, PRD politician, EZLN activist and leader of the Asamblea Estatal Democr�tica del Pueblo Chiapaneco Rubicel Ruiz Gamboa was assassinated in the city. It is thought the act was in response to Ruiz Gamboa�s work in land redistribution in the state�s La Frailesca region.
In the 1990s, Mexicana airlines stopped service to Tuxtla, leaving only the Aerocaribe. A major crash killing nineteen persons led to protests and the reinstatement of service to the city by Mexicana in 2000.
The city�s football team, the Jaguares reached the First Division in 2002.
Between 1991 and 1993, at least eighteen homosexuals and transvestites were murdered by unknown persons in the city. This act has since attracted the attention of international rights groups such as Amnesty International, which states that violence against this sector of the population continues. While the city long has had areas of prostitution, concerns about underage prostitutes, especially transvestite prostitutes in the Central and Cinco de Mayo parks, led to the city banning of men wearing women�s clothing in public in 2002. In addition, transvestite and similar shows have lost their permits to operate.
In 2011, the government of Guatemala announced that it would open a consulate in the city to support its nationals who cross through Mexican territory or reside here. The government noted the problems that many Guatemalans, especially those who enter Mexico illegally have had in the country. Many travel through the area illegally. A tractor trailer with 219 illegal immigrants was stopped in the municipality in early 2011. Most were Guatemalan and almost all from Central America but there were also people from Sri Lankaand Nepal. The migrants were detected by using portable X ray on the passing truck
