(Guatemala) At least 13 people have been killed in a clash between two villages inhabited by indigenous communities in western Guatemala, who have been fighting over land for more than a century, police said on Saturday.
“We must inform the public that 12 people were recently found dead in the village of Chiquix, located next to Nahualá, one of the borders in the conflict with (the neighboring village) of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán,” said the National Civil Police. (PNC) in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Among the deceased, there are children, men and women who add to the tragic death of a PNC policeman, which left 13 dead,” said the police, who assumed that the clash took place from Friday to Saturday.
Two police officers were also injured and a patrol car with “bullet holes” was found at the site as well as a “half-burnt” truck, the statement said.
The conflict between the two villages inhabited by indigenous Mayan communities “has lasted for more than 100 years” and has “claimed the lives of many people engaged in the so-called defense of their lands,” President Alejandro Giammattei said last May, shortly after declaring a state of siege in the region following a further escalation of violence.
Last August, the Minister of the Interior, Gendri Reyes, pledged to the inhabitants of the region to strengthen the police presence in the two municipalities.