The government reported on Sunday in a statement the capture of three men allegedly responsible for the massacre that left 13 dead.
The Guatemalan government imposed a state of siege on two indigenous communities on Monday after a massacre at the weekend that left 13 dead.
Eleven of the 13 victims killed in the framework of a long-standing land conflict were buried in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, after a 10-hour roadblock by that Mayan community demanding justice.
The measure was also to demand that the government put an end to the territorial conflict of more than 100 years between the aforementioned community and the neighboring Nahualá, also Mayan, whom they accuse of the massacre.
Before the burial of the 11 victims (two others had already been buried), the protesters and relatives watched over their dead on the road, where several coffins were placed in a row, in the middle of an altar with flowers, candles, incense smoke and photographs of the 13 murdered children, women and elderly.
The government reported on Sunday in a statement the capture of three men allegedly responsible for the massacre.
In response, President Alejandro Giammattei announced a “state of siege (…) in both municipalities in order to establish order and prevent new incidents of violence.”
In May of last year, the president had taken a similar measure after an escalation of violence between the two communities.
“Speechless”
This Monday, after the delivery of the bodies in the morgue of the nearby city of Quetzaltenango, the death of three minors who were brothers was confirmed. His parents were also murdered.
Among the shouts of protest could be heard the heartrending cry of several women dressed in colorful indigenous Mayan-K’iche ‘costumes, the same ethnic group as in the Nahualá community.
“There are no words to describe how I feel,” Alonzo Guarchaj, 30, told AFP, holding back tears, in front of the hearse that carries the coffin with the remains of his father, an octogenarian evangelical pastor with the same name.
“We leave everything to God and (may) vengeance be his,” he added.
“No longer, we are brothers!” A villager shouted from a truck where several community leaders took the floor to urge Giammattei to commit to defining the boundary between the villages.
Limit, “the solution”
Giammattei affirmed that the attack “is not the product of an ancestral land conflict”, but was perpetrated by “an illegal armed and organized group.”
He also promised that the security forces “will pursue those responsible for the attack until they are arrested and brought to justice.”
“The municipal territorial limit, that is the solution. Because only agreements are not, Mr. President, it has to be the territorial limit of both towns and thus there will be peace and tranquility ”, asked Sabino Tambriz (40), councilor of the municipality of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán.
Dressed in a gray jacket and mask, he recalled the “failure” of the dialogue installed by the government in the middle of last year.
“We want a territorial limit. We don’t want shots anymore, ”said a banner held by a girl at the protest.
“We hold the government responsible for the death of children, women and the elderly (…) massacred by criminals,” read another poster.
Ambush
On Saturday night, the police reported the murder of 13 people, the location of a semi-burned truck and a bullet-pierced patrol in the Chiquix village, in Nahualá.
The victims, originally from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, who were going to collect corn, were the target of an ambush perpetrated by armed men.
One of the 13 victims was a policeman who was guarding the task as a result of the conflict in the area, said the attorney for Human Rights, Jordán Rodas. The version was confirmed by villagers.
“The ambushed families, after being murdered, were burned inside the truck where they were driving, and the children were dismembered with a machete,” said Rodas in a report on the massacre that the residents linked to the border conflict.
Indigenous communities, many of which live in poverty, represent more than 40% of the 17 million inhabitants of Guatemala. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
