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ConflictsGuatemala

Guatemala Indigenous block road in protest of killing of 13

December 21, 2021

After 13 people were killed in a massacre over the weekend, grieving families blocked a major Guatemalan road. They used the coffins of the deceased to call attention to systemic violence.

https://p.dw.com/p/44biA
People mourn the killing of people in coffins brought to a demonstration demanding an end to violence in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021.
Friends and relatives of the victims blocked a major road with the coffins of the deceased Image: Oliver de Ros/AP Photo/picture alliance

Family members grieving the deaths of 13 people over the weekend blocked a major road in Guatemala on Monday with the victims' coffins as well as tree trunks and rocks to call attention to systemic violence.

Thirteen people, among them four children, were murdered near the Mexican border over a land dispute between the Mayaan K'iche community in neighboring Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahaucan.

Guatemala's human rights prosecutor Jordan Rodas said the massacre in Chiquix started on Friday when families from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan were "ambushed by a group of men carrying high caliber weapons" as they went to gather corn.

They were murdered and "burnt inside the truck they were traveling in," Rodas said. The four children, aged 5 to 16, "were chopped up with machetes."

Mexican border migrant purgatory

What happened during the protest?

As coffins for at least seven of the victims were assembled along the Interamericana highway, Indigenous women in traditional clothing wept. Demonstrators carried signs that read, "We have The Right to Live in Peace."

Family members and friends of the victims called for justice and asked the government to resolve the conflict.

A person posts names with the title in Spanish "Victims of the massacre" during a demonstration to call for an end to violence in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021.
Adults and children alike were killed in the weekend attackImage: Oliver de Ros/AP Photo/picture alliance

Alonzo Guarchaj, 30, told AFP, "There are no words to describe what these people did," as he stood beside his father's coffin. Guarchaj's father was an evangelical pastor.

What is the reaction of officials?

For decades, the two communities have tussled over forest and water resources.

Guatemalan President Alejando Giammattei called an emergency cabinet meeting to request that ministers approve a state of siege designation in both municipalities of Nahuala and Santa Catarna Ixtahaucan.

"These events are no longer the product of an ancestral land conflict," Giammattei said, blaming armed criminal groups.

In Chiquix, police and soldiers stood amid fears of escalation. Chiquix is located approximately 170 kilometers (107 miles) west of the capital, Guatemala City.

According to official statistics, more than 40% of Guatemala's population of 17 million live in poverty.

ar/msh (AFP, AP)