At least 13 dead due to land conflict in an indigenous village in Guatemala

At least 13 people died west of Guatemala, among them women, children and a policeman, due to an old conflict over land between indigenous villages, the Police reported this Saturday.

“We must inform the public that a short time ago 12 deceased people have been located in the Chiquix village, located on the side of Nahualá and that it is a territorial limit in the conflict they have with (the neighboring town) of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán “, said in a statement the National Civil Police (PNC), which also reported a dead officer.

According to the National Civil Police (PNC), an agent from your institution and an indigenous person died between Friday and the early hours of this Saturday during the clashes that have occurred in the towns of Nahualá and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán due to a land dispute.

The PNC specified that a police contingent that was sent to those regions of the department of Sololá was ambushed by the residents and “Unfortunately in the village Chiquix Argente Luis Herber Emmanuel Reynoso Rivera was found dead ”.

The policeman was part of a patrol that was ambushed from various points but Reynoso got out of the vehicle and was kidnapped by the indigenous people and then his body was located, the institution said in a statement.

During the confrontation, a 58-year-old resident identified as Antonio Perechu Ixquiactap, originally from the Chocaja sector, Chirijox village, of the Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán municipality, also died.

According to the PNC, the agents have the mission of patrolling the area to avoid that in the conflict over the limit of lands that the two indigenous populations of Sololá have from “continuing to commit crimes.”

The deceased agent had more than seven years of service in the PNC and was originally from the northwestern department of Quiché.

In addition, two other agents identified as Bayron Vitalino Xitamul and Valeriano García Martínez were injured.

Despite the negotiations that different governments have promoted, the conflict over the land limit between the two populations of Sololá, a department of Guatemala with a majority of indigenous population, has not been resolved in recent years.

The PNC appealed to the population to make the respective complaints to find those responsible for attacking the police and also causing the death of the peasant.

Source: AFP and EFE