GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) — Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said Sunday that he had declared a state of emergency in two municipalities in western Guatemala a day after armed men attacked a military post and a police station, cut off roads and hijacked buses, killing at least five people.
The criminal groups are trying to force the security forces to withdraw in order to take control of the region, Arévalo said. He said that his government will strengthen security.
This state of emergency, the first one declared by his government, will last 15 days in the municipalities of Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan in the department of Solola.
“We are in a critical moment for the department of Solola and the security of the country,” said Arévalo, accompanied by the Minister of the Interior Marco Villeda and José Giovanni Martínez Milán, the acting Minister of Defense and chief of the General Staff.
Arévalo showed videos and photos from Saturday’s events, in which gunmen – some dressed in camouflage or military uniforms, wearing helmets and bulletproof vests and carrying high-caliber weapons – can be seen shooting or taking cover a few meters away from a busy main road.
Criminal groups are linked to extortion and drug trafficking and pose a threat to local communities, Arévalo said.
“Communities are not alone,” he said.
The Minister of the Interior Marco Villeda said that five people died. On Saturday, the director of the National Civil Police, David Botero, said that six people died, including a soldier.
The incidents are believed to have started last Thursday when armed men attacked the military post, and at that time they left four people injured.
The two municipalities have been in dispute for several decades over water sources and local roads that they both claim as their own. These disputes led to dozens of deaths.
“In this case, there was no attack between the communities. This was an attack on the military site, intentionally and specifically,” said Arévalo.
The state of emergency limits the rights to open meetings, public demonstrations and events. Allows the forcible dissolution of any unauthorized public gatherings, groups, or demonstrations, particularly those involving weapons or violent acts.
It also limits the right to protests affecting free movement or public services, which can be dissolved by force, and restricts the right to bear arms.