Homicide figures, an armed raid in Zacapa that left eight dead and the murder of a former prosecutor have heightened public concern. Calls for an impartial investigation coincide with warnings about impunity, organised crime and the risk that fear will erode democratic coexistence.
Zeus Naya
All of these are irreparable losses for every family, every community and society as a whole, and they show that the country’s security crisis persists, according to figures and statements analysed by the Prensa Latina news agency.
Data gathered by Latinobarómetro, an internationally recognised public opinion survey, show that crime ranks as the country’s main problem. A high percentage of the Guatemalans interviewed said this was their greatest concern, followed by the economy and corruption, according to an investigation by the independent digital outlet Expediente Abierto.
“The population assesses security by what it experiences every day. If it continues to fall victim to extortion, robbery or violent acts, it is unlikely to conclude that there has been an improvement,” explained expert and university professor Pedro Montenegro.
Last August ended with 318 homicides in this Central American nation, the highest monthly figure in the past five years, according to the Criminal Incidence Statistical Data Platform of the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob).
The average exceeded ten deaths per day, an increase following a first half of the year in which the authorities reported a reduction compared with the same period the previous year, attributed to security operations.
The department of Guatemala accounted for the largest number of murders in the eighth month of the year, with 135. It was followed by Escuintla (36), Chiquimula (20) and Santa Rosa, with 17.
Two cases that sow fear
A murky raid in the municipality of Huité, Zacapa (still under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office), carried out by a heavily armed group, left eight dead on 27 September, among them women and children.
The shootings in several locations, which sowed panic among the population, were allegedly part of an attempt to locate and capture a notorious drug-trafficking leader in the region (Haroldo Waldemar Lorenzana, alias “Haroldito”).
The incident caused intense political and social upheaval owing to conflicting accounts of the origin of the attack and the conduct of the security forces in that north-eastern department.
As if that were not enough, public consternation was renewed by the murder, on the morning of Saturday 17 October, at a sports field in the city, of the lawyer and former prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa.
Guatemalan and international organisations condemned the incident and expressed solidarity with the victims’ families, as Gustavo Aguilar, who held an administrative position at the Judo Federation, was also shot and killed.
Against this backdrop, the wave of demands for a prompt and impartial investigation to shed light on the crime and establish responsibility grew by the hour.
Reactions
President Bernardo Arévalo said that cowardly hitmen killed both victims while they were at Campo Marte, in broad daylight, in front of entire families and children, including Foppa’s son.
“A critical voice has been silenced in the cruellest way. Foppa’s murder fills us with grief and indignation and is an act that cannot go unpunished,” said, for her part, the country’s Vice-President, Karin Herrera. This political murder, the Peasant Development Committee (Codeca) stressed, marks a continuation and deepening of the historic regression towards an increasingly dark era under this repressive state, on the eve of an election year.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office requested that the case file relating to the incident be kept confidential while investigations continue, including with the support of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Violence cannot become the mechanism for silencing voices or settling differences. When an act like this goes unpunished, the message to the entire nation is devastating,” stated the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala. The Raíces party, formed by former members of the ruling Semilla Movement, backed the request for local and international support to shed light on the crime and demanded firm action not only against common criminals but also against the politicians who protect them. PL
(Translated by Rene Phelvin – Email: renephelvin@gamil.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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