Guatemala demands justice for national killed in Mexico

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

METEPEC. Mexico (AA) - Guatemala’s Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo denounced the murder of Elvin Mazariegos Perez from the border city of San Marcos on social media on Tuesday.

“We demand that the Mexican authorities clarify the crimes committed against our compatriots so that justice is done and these reprehensible acts will not be repeated,” he wrote on Twitter.

Mazariegos crossed the Mexican border to buy merchandise on Monday in Mazapa de Madero which borders Guatemala, something typical between the two communities, according to relatives.

Mexico’s Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval acknowledged soldiers acted violently without any provocation when Mazariegos tried to flee a military checkpoint.

"There is an erroneous reaction of the military personnel because there was no aggression with a firearm or an attack in another way ... but one of our elements fires some shots where he wounds one of the civilians who were in the vehicle,” he said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Around 300 residents from the community and Guatemala arrived in Mexico demanding justice and attacked military officials.

Demonstrators managed to apprehend 15 soldiers, three vehicles and weapons. After an economic reparation agreement was reached, all members of the Mexican armed forces were released, as reported by authorities.

All involved in the killing are under investigation.

- El Salvador leader promises justice in killing of woman by Mexican police

The killing of Mazariegos comes days after Mexican authorities used excessive force that led to the death of another Central American national.

Four police officers from Tulum in southeast Mexico murdered Victoria Esperanza Salazar Arriaza on Saturday when an officer broke her spine while trying to make an arrest.

The killing spurred national outrage with Mexicans declaring it proof of another violent expression of inherent sexism and racism that riddle authorities.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador condemned the killing.

“She was brutally treated and killed. It is a fact that fills us with sorrow, pain, and shame," he said and promised there would be no impunity and all implicated would be charged.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, expressed sorrow about the killing and stressed on social media that it was not the people of Mexico that committed the crime but “criminals within Tulum’s police.”

He said he was certain that the Mexican government would apply “all the weight of the law” to the culprits.

The head of Tulum police was fired and the four officers involved were arrested for femicide and are awaiting trial.

But on Monday, Bukele said Salazar Arriaza’s case was far from over.

“Victoria's case is MUCH WORSE than we thought. We can't give more information yet, but the human drama stretches much further and there must be various charges of misogyny and battery (other than murder). We will follow up on this case until JUSTICE is done,” he tweeted.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a news conference that the investigation is underway and all information is shared directly with the Salvadoran government.