GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) – Dozens of Mexican families have fled across the border into Guatemala because of drug cartel violence, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said on Wednesday.
The Central American nation’s defence ministry said that the army was tightening security along the countries’ shared border.
Guatemalan authorities were providing assistance “to people who are escaping this confrontation between (criminal) groups that is taking place on the Mexican side”, Arevalo said at a press conference.
The office of the country’s human rights ombudsman told AFP that around 280-300 displaced Mexicans were at a temporary shelter near the border.
Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas draws tourists with its lush jungle, Indigenous communities and ancient Mayan ruins, but it has also seen intensifying turf wars between gangs fighting for control of drug and people-smuggling routes.
