The inspector of the National Civil Police (PNC) Mauricio Canahuí He died this Friday, January 7, as a result of a bullet that hit him settlers of the villages Pachutiquim and Tzamnuyub, Nahualá, Sololá, who opposed the security forces carrying out 65 raids and executing four arrest warrants related to the massacre of 13 people on December 18 just last.
Canahuí was part of the contingent of the PNC special forces that together with prosecutors from the Public Ministry (MP) They arrived in these communities to carry out judicial proceedings, but were received with bullets by residents who were hiding in houses and mountainous areas.
Several videos of the moments of tension that were lived in the area have been published on social networks and in some of them you can see the last moments of Canahuí’s life, whom his companions try to help in the midst of the bursts of bullets that came from different flanks.
A circular issued by the higher authorities of The PNC indicates that the agents were sent to this procedure unarmed, apparently as part of the protocols for this type of procedure; However, the history of violence in that area was not taken into account, where, according to analysts, gangs of robbers and organized crime operate.
“We regret the passing of our colleague Mauricio Canahui (…), A member of the Special Forces ”, informed journalists Jorge Aguilar, PNC spokesman, in a preliminary report of the events.
Aguilar pointed out that four other police officers were “wounded by a firearm projectile” and were taken to nearby hospitals.
The Army spokesman, Colonel Rubén Téllez, He said that following the attack a military commander in the area contacted the residents following confirming that members of the security forces were detained and their release is currently being negotiated. Hours later they were released.
“The situation is tense, but calm,” acknowledged Téllez.
On December 20, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei decreed a state of siege in Nahualá and in neighboring Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, following 13 people, including three children and a policeman, were killed in a village in an incident linked to a land conflict.
The victims of the massacre belonged to Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan and were ambushed in a community of Nahualá when they went to collect corn. Three men allegedly responsible for the crime have been arrested so far.
Eleven of the deceased were veiled on a section of the Inter-American highway and their coffins were placed on the road as a protest to demand that the Government resolve the conflict that dates back more than 100 years.
It is expected that a dialogue will be resumed in the next few days to resolve the border problem.
Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán and Nahualá, both from Sololá, They maintain a conflict over the boundaries between the two peoples of the same Mayan ethnic group, a dispute that has generated several episodes of violence.
Indigenous communities, many of which live in poverty, represent more than 40% of the 17 million inhabitants of Guatemala.
The wounded agents were transferred by the relief corps to different medical points in Sololá, awaiting their recovery. pic.twitter.com/iKKsc3XVnq
– MinGob (@mingobguate) January 7, 2022
With information from AFP
