The scenes of pain after the massacre that left 13 dead in Guatemala

Scenes of great pain were experienced this Monday at the funerals of some of the 13 people who died in the massacre that occurred this weekend in the department of Sololá, in western Guatemala .

The massacre took place between Friday and Saturday in the village of Chiquix within the framework of a territorial conflict that the indigenous inhabitants of the municipality of Santa Catarina have maintained for more than a century Ixtahuacán with those of neighboring Nahualá.

Among the deceased there are several women, children and the elderly. A policeman was also killed by some local people.

The police believe that the confrontation started on 17 of December and lasted until this Saturday in the region located about 160 km west of the Guatemalan capital.

At the request of President Alejandro Giammatei, The Council of Ministers approved this Monday by urgent means a state of siege for Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán and Nahualá , with the aim of preventing new incidents of violence. This was announced by the Secretary of Social Communication of the Presidency, Kevin López Oliva from the National Palace of Culture.

The state of siege approved by decree came into effect immediately and will have a validity of 30 days. It must be endorsed within three days by the Guatemalan Congress.

Meanwhile, dozens of residents of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán gathered this Monday at kilometer 171 of the Inter-American route to express its rejection of the massacre and demand the help of the authorities.

The conflict between the two communities has its origin in that they share water sources and neighboring roads that both claim as their own.

According to the local press, Nahualá and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán are the scene of constant confrontations between residents with firearms, fights with machetes or mobs.

The Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman, Jordán Rodas, described this Sunday as “serious” the situation in both indigenous communities.

Rodas affirmed that the victims of the massacre, after being ambushed and killed, “were burned in the truck where they were driving and the children were dismembered with machetes.”

Despite the negotiations that different governments have promoted, the conflict over the land limit between the two towns of Sololá has not been resolved.

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