The southern Isthmus area of Tehuantepec and Juchitán have had sporadic bouts of unrest since the late 1960s, paralleling conflicts which were occurring in other parts of Mexico. This trend would continue from the 1970s to the 1990s, mostly focused on the activities of the Tehuantepec diocese under bishop Arturo Lona Reyes, who led from 1971 to his retirement in 2000. The Diocese of Tehuantepec was part of a movement to mobilize the poor and indigenous in the 1980s and 1990s, allied with other elements of the Catholic Church in Oaxaca, the CEDIPIO and others. This movement was based on the teachings of liberation theology. Bishop Arturo Lona was a strong supporter of the teachings of Vatican II calling for the creation of a "people’s church". The Oaxaca church was allied with Diocese of Chiapas under Bishop Samuel Ruiz. The pastoral style of these Oaxacan and Chiapas churches came to be known as the "pastoral indígena" or indigenous pastoral and was focused explicitly on working with the most marginalized segments of society. He instituted a health clinic just outside the city of Tehuantepec basic hospital facilities and the promotion of natural medicine with the training of local healers called curanderos. There is also an ecological center on the same site promoting recycling and organic fertilizer for the area's agriculture.