Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Families block road after bloody Guatemala village attack

Families block road after bloody Guatemala village attack

Grieving family members on Monday blocked a major road in Guatemala with the coffins of victims of a weekend massacre by a rival group to draw attention to violence plaguing their indigenous community.

Thirteen people, including four children were killed in the attack near the Mexican border, part of a long-running land feud between members of the Mayan K'iche community from the neighboring municipalities of Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahaucan.

President Alejandro Giammattei called an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday and asked ministers to approve a state of siege in the two municipalities.

Women in traditional indigenous clothing wept as the coffins of seven victims were lined up along the Interamericana highway, which links the area to the capital Guatemala City. Each coffin bore a photo of the victim inside.

"There are no words to describe what these people did," Alonzo Guarchaj, 30, told AFP as he stood next to a coffin containing the remains of his father, an evangelical pastor.

"All we can do is leave everything in the hands of God and vengeance will be his."

Dozens of family members and neighbors of the victims demanded justice and called on the government to bring the conflict to an end.

Jordan Rodas, Guatemala's human rights prosecutor, said the massacre in the village of Chiquix began late Friday when several families from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan went to gather corn and were "ambushed by a group of men carrying high caliber weapons."

The Santa Catarina Ixtahaucan families were killed and then "burnt inside the truck they were traveling in," according to Rodas. Four children, aged 5 to 16, "were chopped up with machetes."

- 100 years of conflict -

A police officer was killed and two others were injured in the attack, which continued into Saturday, and a police car was riddled with bullets.

Three men in their 20s armed with M16 rifles were arrested in the area on Sunday, according to authorities. Police said the suspects were from one of the two rival communities and that forensic tests would be conducted to determine if those weapons were used in the attack.

The two communities have fought for control of the forests and water sources in their region for many decades.

"These events are no longer the product of an ancestral land conflict. They are the direct consequence of an illegal armed and organized group that acted against civilians and security forces through an ambush in which many men, women and even children were murdered," said Giammattei.

"I want to be categorical in assuring Guatemalans that the forces of order will pursue those responsible for the attack until they are arrested and brought to justice."

Besides the victims' coffins, protesters also used tree trunks and rocks to block the highway and a line of cars piled up.

Soldiers and police were guarding the approach to Chiquix, some 170-kilometers west of Guatemala City, as fears grew of a new wave of violence in the area.

"We're humans not animals, we have the right to life. These children had a great future," said community leader Catalina de la Cruz.

"There must be justice, those responsible for all of this must be investigated and punished."

Giammattei already declared a state of siege in May 2020 following a previous escalation of violence between the two municipalities, and also set up a commission to try to resolve the conflict.

He said at the time that the conflict had lasted more than 100 years and "cost the lives of many people involved in the supposed defense of their lands."

In August, authorities vowed to increase police presence in the two towns.

Indigenous people, many living in poverty, make up more than 40 percent of Guatemala's almost 17 million population, according to official statistics.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×