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Ordered Restore in Town Where 11 Guatemalan Indians Were Massacred
Authorities have reestablished order after the massacre of 11 Indians on the weekend in the western municipality of San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala’s interior minister said Tuesday.
After the state of emergency declared on Monday, security forces restored calm to the municipality some 31 kilometers (19 miles) west of the capital, Mauricio Lopez Bonilla told reporters.
The measure, which will be in force for 30 days, restricts the carrying of weapons, demonstrations, blockades, halts in the provision of public services, among other things, and it is designed to avoid revenge attacks and new confrontations linked to the 11 deaths, Lopez Bonilla said.
More than 1,000 police and soldiers are monitoring – mainly – the village of Pajoques, where the 11 Indians were killed, including six members of the same family.
A preliminary invesigation has deterimined that the killings resulted from the support of some residents for a cement factory that has been in operation since last year and the construction of a highway that will pass through the community to link it to 54 other municipalities to both the east and west.
More than 80 people had to leave their homes after the violent incidents and their testimony will help authorities deal with those responsible for the murders, Lopez Bonilla said.
The minister said that the police on Tuesday began searching for 26 suspects in connection with the killings.
Also, authorities will arrest 10 other people who are said to have threatened local residents supporting the construction of the highway, he said.
San Juan Sacatepequez has more than 190,000 inhabitants, most of them from the Kakchiquel tribe, the members of which engage in agriculture and handicraft making.
Published in Latino Daily News
Source: http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/ordered-restore-in-town-where-11-guatemalan-indians-were-massacred/31211#When:02:46:10Z
