The Guatemalan government urged its citizens on Friday to be “cautious” at some points on the border with Chiapas, Mexico, due to the insecurity in several areas of the region.
The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry warned in a statement that at some points on the border between the two countries there are “security challenges that have intensified in recent months,” so it recommended “caution” in the Chiapas area.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that “incidents have been recorded that especially affect migrant populations in this region and other visitors,” without further details on the matter.
According to the same source, there is a “collaboration” with Mexico to “strengthen border security” through a “high-level binational group.”
On Thursday, Guatemalan deputy Byron Rodríguez held a meeting in Congress with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Escobedo, to analyze the situation on the border.
Rodríguez and Escobedo “followed up” on an “alert plan” for Guatemalans traveling to Mexico via Chiapas, due to the “rise in crime and violence rates,” mainly in Tapachula.
Escobedo had already indicated to Rodríguez that he did not rule out issuing an alert in this regard for travelers, which was finally issued this Friday.
Last July, 19 people, including several Guatemalans, were killed in Chiapas in a confrontation between hitmen from drug cartels fighting for control of the border between the two countries, according to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) of the Mexican Government.
The bodies appeared on an unpaved road that connects Jaltenango de la Paz with the community of La Reforma, in Chiapas. EFE
Source: infobae
