US-Mexico border: The gruesome attack that shocked a village
By Will Grant
BBC Central America correspondent
Published 5 days ago
When the burnt bodies of 19 people were found in two vehicles close to the Mexican border with the US last weekend, one village in Guatemala was particularly badly hit. Residents there are still trying to understand why some of them were killed in such a brutal way.
At the trials for his local football team a few years ago, Marvin Tomás impressed the team coach so much that he signed him up on the spot. A wiry, athletic winger with a vicious left foot, he fit exactly what the Guatemalan third division side, Juventud Comiteca, was looking for.
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They were shot and then set alight, most likely by a drug cartel that controls the migrant smuggling routes across the US-Mexican border. Their charred remains are unrecognisable and William Matias says the sheer cruelty of the attack has shocked people in their rural corner of Guatemala.
"Their only crime was to flee hunger and poverty," says William.
. . .
"Many families in San Marcos eat one meal a day - simple corn tamales or boiled potatoes. In Marvin's case, he was the only breadwinner after his father died from alcohol abuse," he explained.
"He would come to football training early, then work all day and study at the university at weekends. In an eight-hour day, he'd earn about six dollars. With that he had to support his mother and two young sisters, plus help out an older sister - a single mother on her own."
More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55829429
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Google translation:
Mourning in Comitancillo, San Marcos
January 25, 202146
Relatives of the victims ask for help to obtain the resources and repatriate the remains of their charred relatives found in the border area between Mexico and the United States.
Relatives of Marvin Tomás Tomás
Mirna Alvarado / LaPrensadeOccidente
Among the 19 bodies found in a charred truck in a gap in the Santa Anita ejido, in the municipality of Camargo, Tamaulipas, a young Guatemalan soccer player was identified, who played for a third division club.
On the official Facebook page of the Juventud Comiteca club, of the third division of the National League of Guatemala, the massacre was rejected, in which the death of Marvin Alberto Tomás Tomás “El Zurdo”, 22 years old, player of the club and that he would have traveled to try his luck in the United States.
“Board of directors, coaching staff, players and the youth fans Comiteca repudiate the vile murder of our compatriots and especially of our Young Player Marvin Alberto Tomás Tomás, El Zurdo, thank you for being part of our dream, thank you for your dedication, thank you for giving us the opportunity to meet you… for everything, thank you champion ”, they wrote on the Facebook page.
Government sources indicated that Enrique López López and Osmar Neftalí Miranda Baltasar, both from the Chicajalaj village of the Comitancillo San Marcos municipality, have also been identified.
“My brother-in-law left for the United States to meet with his family, because everyone is there, only his three sisters are here, we lived together during the end of the year parties, then he told us that he wanted to be with his family and he left, nor did he arrive nor did he stay in his land, ”said Enrique López's relative.
Álvaro Miranda Temá father of the young Osmar Neftalí commented that his son communicated periodically with them, “he told us about his journey, he always told us where he was going, that he was fine, but I have not spoken for two days, we sought information with the people they took him away and told us that he was among the people they killed at the border, "he said.
Álvaro Miranda father of 19-year-old Osmar Miranda Baltasar who was looking for the American dream in order to provide better living conditions for his family
Both families ask the population for their help and demand that the Guatemalan government intervene for the repatriation of their relatives as well as investigate who was responsible for the massacre.
Among the first signs, it is indicated that the victims were shot "and then set on fire." However, no casings were found, so the Tamaulipas prosecutor's office believes that they may have been killed elsewhere.
Two burned corpses were in the front seats of one of the vehicles, which was a cargo van, two others outside and 15 in the back, the statement said.
Osmar Neftalí's mother commented that the day her son left for the United States, she gave him a hug and told him that they would see each other soon. "All he wanted was for me to be able to buy my medications," he said.
The bodies are already being analyzed by forensic experts, but the damage caused by the fire complicates their identification, detailed a source from the prosecution, who asked not to be identified.
The Guatemalan Consulate in Mexico has already contacted the Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office to identify the murdered people and their burned bodies in the trunk of a truck.
The statement from the Prosecutor's Office indicates that the citizen report, which alerted the authorities, indicated that a shooting took place in the place and the criminals set fire to two trucks, they also assured that the screams of several people who were burning were heard.
Inside the cabin, three long weapons were secured, however, none of the bodies found in the box of the truck carried any type of weapons, so the authorities assume that it was a group of migrants.
https://laprensa.com.gt/2021/01/25/luto-en-comitancillo-san-marcos/
