Guatemalan Civilians Free Mexican Soldiers Accused Of Killing Truck Driver

Tuxtla Guti�rrez, Mexico, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Mar, 2021 ) :Guatemalan border residents on Tuesday freed six Mexican soldiers they had captured after a compatriot was shot and killed at an army checkpoint, military officials said Tuesday.

Members of the Guatemalan police and army negotiated with the hostage-takers for the soldiers to be turned over to Mexican authorities, said Ruben Tellez, a spokesman for the Guatemalan armed forces.

The soldiers and their weapons were handed over in the early morning hours.

The soldiers were seized Monday after a Guatemalan was shot dead at a checkpoint, officials said.

According to local police reports, troops in Mazapa de Madero, near the border, stopped a truck driven by 30-year-old Elvin Mazariegos.

An official source said Mazariegos was shot after he pointed a gun at the soldiers.

Residents of border communities in Guatemala and Mexico arrived at the scene and detained 15 troops and three trucks.

Some were released, and Tellez initially said seven soldiers remained in the hands of locals. The number turned out to be six.

During the overnight negotiations, Mexican authorities promised to bring Mazariegos' body to the Guatemalan town of Tacana, and "to submit the soldiers involved to Mexican justice.

" The shooting came two days after a Salvadoran woman died at the hands of Mexican police after a spat with a grocery store manager, according to a prosecutor who said "disproportionate force" was used, which caused a spine fracture.

Mexican President Andrew Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed Monday there would be "no impunity" for police involved in Victoria Esperanza Salazar's killing, which has sparked outrage and protest in Mexico City.

In a tweet Monday, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo demanded Mexico investigate crimes committed against his compatriots "so that justice is done and these reprehensible acts will not be repeated." The diplomat was also alluding to the murders in January of 16 Guatemalan migrants in Tamaulipas, near the US border, in a case in which a dozen Mexican police officers have been detained.

The charred remains of the victims, as well as three Mexicans, were found in a truck riddled with bullets in an area turf battles between rival criminal gangs.

The governments of Mexico and Guatemala launched a joint military and police border operation over the weekend to stop caravans of migrants hoping to reach the United States.