Residents of the municipality of Amatenango de la Frontera, Chiapas, who in July decided to ask for refuge in Guatemala, in the face of increasing violence and forced recruitment by the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel in their dispute over the territory of the Sierra, decided to return to their homes.
Authorities from Guatemala and residents of the municipality of Cuilco, in the department of Huehuetenango, reported that this week that ended, the Mexicans left the community of Ampliación Nuevo Reforma, where they lived since last July.
Figures from the district director of the Ministry of Education, in the department of Huehuetenango, Delmi Elizabeth Chávez Roblero, revealed that 400 people left their homes on the Mexican side, to ask for refuge in Guatemalan territory.
Of that total, 240 were located in Ampliación Nuevo Reforma; 45 in Monte Rico; 40, in Unión Frontera; 12 in Oaxaqueño; 35 in Jocoquitlán; and 32 in Villa Nueva. Although other Mexicans were also located in Plan de las Vigas and in several houses near the municipal seat of Cuilco.
Most of the communities are located near the Mexico-Guatemala border.
As the months went by, the families concentrated mainly in Ampliación Nueva Reforma, but some people entered Mexican territory during the day to clean their homes, feed their animals and take care of their farming areas, but in the afternoon they entered Guatemala to sleep, because they feared that the criminals would take the adult men and adolescents.
The community authorities where the Mexicans settled implemented an aid plan to provide support to the families, while evangelical churches, the diocese of Huehuetenango, non-governmental organizations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the city council, local businessmen and other institutions collaborated to deliver food, water, educational material, clothing, medicine and other products.
The Guatemalan Institute of Migration granted permits for their legal stay in the neighboring country, for up to 60 days, a document that they renewed on more than two occasions.
After seven months of remaining in Mexican territory, the families decided to return to their communities in the municipality of Frontera Comalapa, in response to the operations carried out by the Mexican Navy, Army, National Guard and the Pakal Immediate Reaction Force (FRIP) group of the State Police, in the Sierra.
A month ago, when the security operation was implemented in the Sierra and other regions of Chiapas, Mexicans began to return to their homes in Amatenango de la Frontera, confirmed residents of the region, so the last group decided to leave Guatemala.
Source: pulsoslp
