Machete attack on three Argentine tourists shakes a paradisiacal enclave on the coast of Oaxaca

Three young Argentines who were vacationing in the Lagunas de Chacahua, a beach in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, were attacked Friday by a man armed with a machete, causing serious injuries, local authorities said.

According to reports in local media, the youths were eating at a restaurant on the paradisiacal and remote beach that is only accessible by boats when a man attacked them with machetes.

It is unclear what the motive for the attack was or whether the suspect knew the victims.

The tourists attacked were identified as Macarena Gonzales, 29; Benjamin Gamond, 23; and Santiago Lastra, 22. The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Cruz Irving.

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An ambulance in Chacahua, Oaxaca, treats wounded from a machete attack on May 12, 2023.

Gamond was wounded in the back and head, where he received at least two slashes with the machete, while Gonzales and Lastra suffered injuries to the hands and arms while trying to stop the aggression.

The three were taken by boat to a nearby town, where Civil Protection personnel treated them and referred them to a hospital in the city of Puerto Escondido, about two hours from Chacahua by car. Gonzales and Lastra, who are dating, were released after requiring surgery, but Gamond remained in critical condition, according to relatives.

"The worst part was taken by my brother. He received two machete blows to the head, with loss of brain mass. He has a compromised eye and the most serious thing was the amount of blood he lost, between when they were attacked and the ambulance arrived to make the transfer. Quite some time passed, he went into hypovolemic shock and went into a critical state, with multiple transfusions," Marcos Gamond, brother of one of the victims and a doctor in Argentina's Cordoba province, said in a video.

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Gamond's mother, Gabriela, told La Voz newspaper that he had been flown from Puerto Escondido to Mexico City aboard a medical plane Sunday afternoon so he could receive treatment at a hospital specializing in neurology.

According to the municipal government of Villa de Tututepec (to which Lagunas de Chacahua belongs) and the community of Chacahua Isla, the suspect resides in the neighboring state of Guerrero and was on the beach in Oaxaca looking for work.

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The young Argentines had arrived in Chacahua two days before the attack to enjoy the beach popular with surfers and ecotourism in the bioluminescent lagoons.

Local media in Argentina reported that the three victims were originally from Córdoba. Benjamin Gamond is one of seven siblings and was a player for the rugbny team Club Tala, which has raised funds to help his relatives travel to Mexico to be with him.