Guatemalans seize Mexican troops after killing

MEXICO CITY — Some 300 residents of a remote stretch of the Mexico-Guatemala border held 15 Mexican soldiers captive for hours after one of the soldiers shot and killed a Guatemalan citizen at a checkpoint.

Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said Tuesday the events stemmed from “an erroneous reaction on the part of military personnel” who fired on a vehicle reversing away from a checkpoint on Monday.

The soldiers, three vehicles and 17 guns were released after Mexican officials agreed to economic reparations and legal proceedings against those responsible.

Guatemala’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said that Elvin Mazariegos, a Guatemalan citizen living in the Mexican border town of Mazapa de Madero was the victim.

“We demand Mexican authorities clear up the crimes committed against our countrymen to give them justice and so that these condemnable acts are not repeated,” Guatemala Foreign Affairs Minister Pedro Brolo said via Twitter.

Sandoval denied that any of the soldiers had been taken into Guatemalan territory, but the spokesman for Guatemala’s army confirmed it and the Guatemalan government released photos of Mexican soldiers with Guatemalan police, who it said were there to guarantee their safety.

The killing came two days after local police in the Mexican Caribbean resort town of Tulum killed a Salvadoran woman while trying to arrest her in a case that echoed the police killing of George Floyd in the United States, which went to trial this week.

Mexican prosecutors said an autopsy showed police had broken the woman’s neck and would be charged in the slaying.

The confrontation in Chiapas state began around 1 p.m. Monday at a military checkpoint in the town of Motozintla, an area where authorities say fuel smuggling is an issue.

The victim’s vehicle went into reverse after approaching the checkpoint and a soldier fired multiple shots. Sandoval said soldiers attempted to treat the wounded person, but he died. Soldiers then detained the vehicle, two other passengers and the soldier who fired.

Two hours later, some 300 area residents, Mexicans and Guatemalans, arrived demanding justice. “They attacked personnel verbally and with rocks, sticks,” Sandoval said.

Holding security forces captive is not unheard of in remote indigenous communities where residents feel they have little other recourse.

Mexican military commanders began to negotiate with residents and nine soldiers were released by 5 p.m. The other six, along with their vehicles and weapons were taken “to a distant point, but did not cross the Guatemala border,” Sandoval said.

However, Guatemala army spokesman Ruben Tellez told local journalists that the Mexican personnel were brought to the Guatemalan border town of La Esperanza and held for hours.

Guatemalan police and soldiers ensured the Mexican soldiers’ safety during their captivity and participated in the negotiations for their release, Tellez said. In photographs released by the Guatemalan government, Guatemalan police are visible talking to the Mexican soldiers.

“The negotiations were successful and at 3:20 a.m. the six soldiers and their arms were turned over to Mexican authorities, an exchange made at the border between Guatemala and Mexico,” Tellez said.