Friday 28 September 2012

Guatemalan army evacuates families threatened by gang

The Guatemalan army evacuated late on 26 September five families from their homes near the Mexican border, apparently avoiding their imminent massacre by suspected members of the Mexican drug cartel The Zetas. The families - consisting of 44 people including 22 children - were taken from Santo Domingo Sinlaj in the district of Santa Cruz Barillas to army facilities in Guatemala City, El País reported on 28 September, citing local press reports. The Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre reported that they had for days been confined to their homes by Zetas who control this area and force locals into criminal work; it cited the regional commander General Rudy Ortíz Ruiz as saying that the army had information The Zetas were about to kill and rape 15 men and women for refusing to work for them, and that more families asked to be taken away when troops arrived to evacuate them. Authorities arrested in that zone on 27 September a suspect named as Daniel Juan, identified as the possible "local chief" of The Zetas, El País reported. The prosecutor-general of Guatemala Claudia Paz y Paz also announced the capture of the Zeta chief for Santa Cruz Barillas - named as Juan Nicolás - though it was not immediately clear if this was the same person, AFP reported, citing her remarks to Prensa Libre.

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