A mother and her two daughters are among the eight people killed in a September 27 military operation in Huité, Zacapa. The families claim justice as the authorities went from denying a military incursion to recognizing a participation whose scope is not yet clarified.

On the night of Sunday, September 27, in the municipality of Huité, Zacapa the staff of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DICRI) processed four crime scenes at the entrance of the municipality, in the neighborhood El Campo, in the village El Corralito, village El Encinal and in the vicinity of the Official School of Párvulos. They located seven people who died, three women and four men, all as a result of gunshot wounds.

According to the first report of the Public Ministry, 77 ballistic evidence and other elements for the investigation were collected, according to what was published in the official account of X.

The first identified victims were: Vilma Elizabeth Paz Paiz, 56; Cinthia Gabriela (28) and Uve Lisbeth Paz Paiz (22 years old), the two daughters of Vilma. They lived in the La Tejera neighborhood, Sunday night they were heading to refuel to leave early the next day. On the way they were attacked at the entrance to Huité.

Uve Lisbeth was also originally from the La Tejera neighborhood and worked in the distributor and bottler Food and Drinks Atlántida S.A., outsourcing of the carbonated beverage company, Coca Cola and whom her co-workers describe as a young fighter and dreamer and who, in addition, regretted that the violence that is experienced in Guatemala has taken her life. While Cinthia Gabriela, 28, the people who knew her as a young woman without problems.

Rosario Paz, one of the villagers, said that “Eli” Paz Paiz and his daughters were carrying the windows from the vehicle below when armed men shot them without any warning. In the face of this attack, she blames the Guatemalan Army and the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States (DEA).

Vilma with her two daughters were preparing for the next day and only went out to recharge gasoline. PHOTOS SOCIAL NETWORKS

The National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif) also identified Juan Carlos Pedroza Agustín, 45; Mario René Romero Díaz, 63; and Carlos Donato Paiz Mateo, 32. All died from gunshot wounds, who were riddled on the football field.

According to Infobae, Pedroza Agustín was an employee of the municipality who was walking near the football field when the shooting began, who died at the scene.

In addition, of the six people identified by the Inacif, the Municipality of Huité published the schelat identifying Denis Alonzo Herrera, 14, as another of the victims. Ludwin Stuart Nájera, also 33, was taken with gunshot wounds to Roosevelt Hospital and died at the care center.

According to reports, Nájera said that there were helicopters flying over Huité and said that the murder of Denis Alonzo occurred because “he turned to see the helicopters up.”

That incident was part of several attacks that in total ended with the deaths of eight people, according to data revealed by the Public Ministry (MP).

After the massacre, on Tuesday, September 29, the coffins were taken to the central park of Huité, where dozens of people supported the relatives and accompanied the funerals. Photographs were placed on the site and funeral honors were given to people prior to being taken to the local cemetery.

Mayor Leonel Humberto Paz López announced a municipal mourning and suspended the celebration of Children’s Day and the San Francisco fair.

Four scenes and a hypothesis that does not explain the deaths

Prosecutors reported that at 17:30 on Sunday, September 27, armed men entered and the hypothesis is that they were following Haroldo Waldemar Lorenzana Terraza, alias Haroldito, identified by U.S. authorities as the leader of a drug trafficking organization.

So far the different versions seem to coincide, but when it is intended to establish which group belonged to the perpetrators of the attacks, the variations begin, since the neighbors and relatives of the victims point to DEA personnel, of the Army, there is talk of dispute with other organized crime groups and also of hunting rewards.

The Municipality rejected the description of a confrontation between armed groups and maintained that a commando entered the place and used excessive force and for this requests that a rigorous and impartial investigation be carried out.

An official story full of contradictions

The Army went from denying the incursion and its participation in the confrontation to recognizing a military action pending clarification.

On Monday, September 28, Army spokeswoman Nathalia Mollinedo denied that it was a raid by the military and attributed it to a territorial dispute of organized crime, rejecting that the uniform and equipment of the men indicated correspond to the institution. Although hours after his first statements he acknowledged a military deployment in Huité, this after videos that began circulating on social networks, showed vehicles J8 ( vehicles donated by the United States to the Army) and two trucks with soldiers.

Mollinedo said troops avoided entering the confrontation zone so as not to aggravate the violence.

That same day, the Minister of the Interior, Marco Villeda, denied that forces of the National Civil Police (PNC) had been called for some operation.

A day later, on Tuesday, September 29, the Ministry of National Defense (Mindef) confirmed that the J8 vehicles and trucks with soldiers appearing in videos were from the Army and belonged to the Second Infantry Brigade.

According to the institution, the first incident occurred between 17:00 and 18:00 hours, while the military deployment occurred between 20 and 21 hours. In addition, he said that the units remained in the accesses and that they also found barricades.

About a registered J8 near the site where the three women died, he said he was outside Huité, although he did not provide an exact location.

It was until September 30, and after avoiding giving statements to the media in other public activities, when President Bernardo Arévalo recognized the participation of elements and units of the Army, without clarifying what happened and avoiding saying that it was a military operation, he announced that a commission of the Ministry of Defense will establish the scope and modality of that action.

“No, there was no participation of the National Civil Police, the Police arrived once the events were past, in the framework of support to the Public Ministry to carry out its functions and the maintenance of order in the people. On the Army, there has indeed been the participation of elements of the Army that precisely the investigation that is being launched through this multidisciplinary commission in the Mindef will allow to establish the scope, the modality and how it was operated in that context, "he said.

Arévalo avoided pointing out the fact as a military operation and in hesitation said that the report should be waited to be known to know if there were errors:

“We are being very careful not to advance any definition until we have completed the investigations in this case by the commission, that report will give an idea of how at what times and how this situation took place, so in a short time there will be greater clarity about it ... we have to wait to understand what happened and be able to identify, if there were, where there were errors, whether it was an operational question or what has happened.”

At that conference, Defense Minister Henry Sáenz explained that the initial information had been updated and acknowledged the participation of a military unit, but the Government left it pending to explain what that unit did.

A military review and a criminal investigation

Defense indicated that the commission will be composed only of personnel from different units of the Army and will evaluate administrative and operational aspects, although it did not announce a specific deadline to deliver the report or publicly identify units or commands subject to investigation.

In parallel, the MP maintains the criminal investigation and, according to Sáenz, will collaborate to clarify the facts and will deliver the results of the military review.

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