Guatemala opens dialogue table with residents of Nahualá and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán

(CNN Spanish) -

The Executive Power of Guatemala, headed by President Alejandro Giammattei, established a dialogue table between the communities of Nahualá and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, in the department of Sololá.

This instance of dialogue opens after a group of police officers and prosecutors were ambushed on Friday by residents of those communities when they were preparing to carry out raids in the municipality of Nahualá and, as a result, a police officer died, eight were injured by firearm shots and 11 more were injured with blunt objects, as confirmed in a statement by the Ministry of the Interior.

The operation was to find those responsible for the death of 12 people, including a policeman, several women and children on December 17.

Among the commitments made at the dialogue table is the repair of the roads of both communities, the holding of more meetings to seek agreements between them and respect by both of the territorial limits, which will be sought to delimit.

This is a conflict that started more than 100 years ago.

The inhabitants of Nahualá and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán have a dispute over land rights that has led to fierce confrontations.

For decades the governments of the day have decreed a state of siege to try to resolve the conflict.