Families fear migrant relatives among dead in Mexican massacre
Multiple Guatemalan Maya families fear their relatives are among the dead following a massacre in Mexico near the U.S. border that left 19 people shot and burned.
The slayings, which occurred last weekend, occurred near Camargo, a town on a popular route used by migrants headed to the U.S. However, smugglers and drug cartels use the route, too.
The bodies were found Saturday but are believed to have been killed earlier at a different location.
Authorities in the border state of Tamaulipas have still not identified the deceased. Melted remains of what appeared to be cellphones were also found at the scene, along with three rifles, believed to have been discarded by the killers.
A group of Indigenous men and women recently traveled to Guatemala City to provide officials with DNA samples of their relatives after hearing about the massacre from relatives already in the U.S.
“We heard about it from people already in the United States, family members and neighbors, who said our relatives were part of this group,” Evaristo Agustin, who is looking for his 22-year-old brother-in-law, told Reuters.
Ramiro Coronado told the Associated Press that he had a relative migrating and lost contact with them last Thursday.
“He said he wanted a better life situation for himself and his family,” Coronado said.
Northern migration from Central American, and attacks against migrants, has risen in Mexico as Hondurans and Guatemalans flee the devastation of two recent hurricanes and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Guatemalan foreign ministry said it was working with law enforcement in Mexico to determine whether or not any of its citizens are among the victims. However, little new information has been released.
The prosecutor’s office in Tamaulipas said the victims included 16 men and a woman, but examiners had been unable to determine the gender of two of the victims. Officials said they would use the DNA samples volunteered by the group of Indigenous Guatemalans.
If confirmed, the killings would be one of the worst attacks against migrants in Mexico since a 2010 massacre of 72 migrants who refused to work for the Zetas cartel in Tamaulipas, according to the Associated Press. A similar scene was found in January 2020 near the neighboring town of Ciudad Mier. A day after 21 bodies were found, the Mexican army killed 11 alleged gunmen in the area.
With News Wire Services
