President Andrés Manuel López Obrado and Secretary of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval during a press conference in July.
The shooting death of a Guatemalan citizen at the hands of the Army in Chiapas, in southern Mexico, has raised tension at the border.
The Secretary of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, reported on Tuesday the episode, which occurred on Monday.
At one in the afternoon, a vehicle approached a military checkpoint in the municipality of Motozintla, in Chiapas.
Before arriving, the car stopped and backed up, trying to flee.
“And then there is an erroneous reaction on the part of the military personnel,” Sandoval explained, “because there was no attack with a firearm or in any other way.
But one of our elements fires some shots where he wounds one of the civilians who were in the vehicle ”.
The civilian died shortly after at the site.
Hundreds of residents of the area arrived at the scene and held the military for hours.
Sandoval has added that the soldier who shot is at the disposal of the Attorney General's Office (FGR) to collaborate in the investigation into the death of the Guatemalan citizen.
The secretary general has not reported on the possible reasons that led the military to shoot.
He has only said that the area "is illicit fuel trafficking."
Motozintla lies a few kilometers from the border with Guatemala.
Despite the version of the accident, the death of a civilian at the hands of the military puts the focus back on the space occupied by the Army in police tasks.
Since the end of Vicente Fox's administration (2000-2006), but especially in subsequent governments, the military has assumed increasing responsibilities in matters of public security.
Already in the years of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), civil society organizations and families of victims denounced that the lack of training of the military caused, in the best of cases, errors like the one now registered in Motozintla.
At worst, they said, the military committed executions, torture and enforced disappearances.
The error of the military in Chiapas also occurs at a time of great controversy in the country, due to the power that the Armed Forces have accumulated under the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Upon his arrival in 2018, the president decreed an extension of the military presence in the streets until 2024. The president has also awarded important works to the Armed Forces, in the case of the Felipe Ángeles airport or sections of the Maya Train.
Without being the first time he has acted like this, General Sandoval's speed in recognizing the malpractice of his men points precisely to the factual power of the Army.
Far from hiding details of the attack, the military chief has had no problem recognizing what happened, cataloging the episode as an error.
Neither Sandoval nor López Obrador, who have appeared together at the president's usual morning press conference, have announced changes to the border security strategy.
Hold and release
After the shots were fired, the military helped the wounded man, according to Sandoval's version.
The general explained that the civilian died shortly afterwards and that the military "secured" the other two civilians who were in the car that tried to flee.
"Later, at 3:00 pm, a group of 300 people arrived, including residents of Motozintla and people of Guatemalan origin," said the general.
“They arrived in several vehicles, attacked the personnel verbally, with stones, sticks and detained 15 elements, three vehicles and 17 weapons.
They obviously demanded justice. "
Videos of that moment circulate on social networks.
In the images, civilians are seen recording the military with their phones.
Civilians force them to identify themselves.
They even point to a corporal as allegedly responsible for the shooting.
Four of the six members of the Mexican Army after they were freed by the villagers who were holding them in Tacana.
- / AFP
“At the same time, the commanders of the region and the military zone moved to the area to address the situation.
They came and talked with the people.
At 6 pm, nine of the detained elements were released ”, explained Sandoval.
“Six soldiers remained, with the weapons and the vehicles.
They were never taken to Guatemala, but they were taken to a distant point from the area of the incident ”.
The general concluded by explaining that already at night, approximately 8.30pm, the Army's "Citizen Liaison Unit" arrived in the area and managed to free the rest of the military, which finally happened during the early hours of Tuesday.
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